Pokémon Existent
by Aibyouka-chan
Summary: Nintendo has created a new virtual reality gaming console called Nintendo VR. The first game made to go with the system is Pokémon Existent. When things go aery and someone gets stuck in limbo, it is up to Jaime and a few of her friends to save her. DISCONTINUED
1. The Beginning and First Half Middle

Pokémon Existent

A Fan Fiction

By Jaime Smith

**"****So ****I**** was ****at ****my ****desk, ****playing**** video games**** as**** usual.**** Don****'****t**** give**** me**** that**** look. ****Playing**** video games ****is**** my**** job. ****I****'****m**** a**** video game ****level**** designer.****You**** remember**** the**** space ****station**** level ****in**** that ****Call ****of ****Duty ****8 ****for ****your ****Xbox****2000? ****I**** made ****it.****Yup**** that ****was ****me.**** Anyway, ****like ****I**** was ****saying,** I was at my desk playing videogames, testing levels, when I got a call. It was an offer to go to Japan. I was one of five people picked to be the first to try out a new virtual reality game console; appropriately named Nintendo VR. I would live in a luxury Japanese apartment, and would be paid quite a nice sum too. These amenities were in case of… complications. That's the way they put it. It had been my dream since I was in elementary school to go to Japan. Twenty-three and still young, I thought this was my chance.

So I hopped on a plane headed to Tokyo, Japan. I spent the night in my lovely new apartment, western and Japanese at the same time. The next day I woke up bright and early to go and meet the scientists and game designers that worked with Virtuous Games, an up-and-coming branch off from Nintendo that was specializing in virtual reality. Normally, I dressed casually for work: jeans, sneakers, a game's v-neck, and the occasional polo. The only thing "wild" about my outfit would be the pink and yellow streaks in my hair. That day I dressed up. I wore a black t-shirt, black flare-leg pants with hot pink accents, a black zipping trench coat, black knee-high platform boots, and my trademark black lipstick. I always wore it when I wasn't working.

I walked into the building… and turned to walk back out.

"Where are you going?" said a voice with a heavy Japanese accent.

"I was looking for Virtuous Games; I must be in the wrong building."

"No," said some white guy, "You're in the right place."

I turned back around, a scowl deeper than usual on my face. The place was a large, virtually empty loft. In the center of the room were four translucent, frosted boxes: rectangular prisms. A wire led from each box to the back of one Mac computer. There were two flimsy looking computer desks, and two Macs on each desk. Sitting at one desk was a white guy. He looked like one of us, the standard videogame designer, quite plain. Standing next to him was a Japanese guy in a lab coat: a scientist. He was smiling.

"Welcome to Virtuous Games," he said, "I am Dr. Ichigo Honda." I don't know if he was talking to me or the female walking in after me. Maybe he didn't want her to make the mistake I did. I turned to look at her. A pretty, tall brunette. _She __clearly __likes __silk __tops__ and __cowboy __boots,_ I thought, looking at her up and down. I half-smiled at her, friendly but not too trusting. She frowned. I didn't know if it was because I'm black or Goth. I turned back around.

"This place is a dump," she said, popping her gum.

"It's not dirty," I pointed out.

"It's in empty loft in an alley. I classify that as a dump."

"Smarta—" began the white dude. The Japanese scientist cut in quickly.

"We just don't have all the luxuries yet."

"There's going to be five us right?" she asked, twirling her hair around her finger.

"Four," said the game designer, not taking his eyes off the computer screen, "One bailed."

"Ain't that a shame," said a guy walking in the door. "Is this the place, Virtuous Games?" The scientist nodded. I looked at him. Another white guy with blue jeans and a navy blue t-shirt, black leather jacket and black sneakers.

I sighed. I was definitely starting to feel in the minority now. I looked at Dr. Honda to see if he was feeling my pain. I don't think he was. We waited in silence until the last guy walked through the door. I didn't even want to look at him.

"Alright, when do I get the guns?"

Dr. Honda laughed. "All in good time."

I turned to have a look at this guy. He was tall and brown-skinned, like me. He was wore a graphic t-shirt, a polo over that, and a jacket over that. It was so weird! He looked oddly familiar, and his voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't figure out why. I shook my head and turned my focus back on the scientist. He was staring that the boxes.

"What you see here is our new state-of-the-art virtual reality console."

"It doesn't look very state-of-the-art," said the brunette.

"Or roomy," I chimed in, "For it to be virtual reality, don't you need to be able to move?"

"You know how when you dream, only your eyes move, but your body is still?" asked the scientist. We all nodded. "This machine basically induces a dream-like state, but instead of dreaming, you'll be playing a videogame. Well enough of the mechanics, why don't we introduce ourselves?"

We all stood silently looking at each other and around the dim loft. Dr. Honda looked at us uncomfortably. He glanced over at the designer.

"Jaime Smith meet Gloria Stewarts meet Carl Barns meet Joshua Tempest. The guy at the computer is Jeffrey Avery"

Joshua Tempest. That name sounded so familiar to me but I just couldn't pinpoint where from. Some famous person who has the same name? No that wasn't it. I didn't have time to think about it though, Dr. Honda was handing us white helmets with Nintendo written in gray on the front. They looked like baseball helmets without the bib.

"Put these on."

"What do they do," asked Carl.

"They connect you to the videogame."

"Are they safe?" I asked.

"Quite. They've been tested on monkeys. They can't actually play but they could perform basic tasks inside the machine. Quite fascinating by the way, monkey brains. You know…"

"Can we go now?" blurted Joshua.

"Be patient!" I growled.

Dr. Honda cleared his throat. "Yes, we may begin now. In you go, one for each of you."

I put on my helmet and climbed into the frosted glass box. It was very comfortable inside, nicely cushioned and supporting all the pressure points. The gray cushioning could've been black though. I lay down and waited for instructions. A panel slid closed over me, locking me inside the box. I began to feel a little claustrophobic.

"Close your eyes," it was Jeffrey, the programmer at the computer. I closed them. "Jaime, just relax. There's nothing to be afraid of." I exhaled deeply and repositioned myself, trying to relax. "Okay you guys you're going to feel a little jolt. That's just your conscience being transported into the game."

"What if you're conscience doesn't make it into the game?" it was Gloria.

"That hasn't happened."

"What if it does?"

"But it hasn't."

"_But_ what _if_…"

"Look _if_ it happens _then_ we'll deal with it and only then. Alright everybody quiet."

By this time I was relaxed and on the verge of sleep. I felt that jolt. Then I opened my eyes. At least, I think I did. Everything was white. Then I beautiful scene appeared. It was a lush green meadow with beautiful white flowers and a shade tree. The sky was blue and fluffy white clouds floated by. A breeze blew and I felt my clothes shift, my hair blow. Just then, some words fizzled in front of my eyes. I read them as they appeared.

"Po-ké-mon… Existent." I burst out laughing. "_Another_Pokémon game? Weren't you guys done after Fire and Ice?" No one answered me. The view in front of my eyes went black, then a being that looked like me appeared. It was like looking in a mirror. Dr. Honda's voice came over what sounded like a PA system in my helmet.

"This is the part where you are able to customize your character. You can make him or her look like anyone. Height, weight, clothes, hair color; it's all fully customizable. There are limits of course. You can't be a giant or an ant and you can't be too scantily clad, but have fun with it."

I paced around my character, the perfect rendition of me. _My__ breasts __could__ be__… __one __cup __size __bigger._I thought admittedly. Like magic, the character's breasts enlarged. I had this idea of a hairstyle that was short and spiky. It had bangs, but they were uneven. They were long and covered my eyes and went behind my glasses. It also had two pigtails on the side and a long ponytail in the back. All the edges were uneven. It was light pink. I tapped my finger on my lip. _What __can __I__ do __for __an __outfit?_ I love yellow, but I was determined not to put any yellow in this outfit. I like dress shirts, but I don't like buttons, so I thought, _Hey,__why__ not __a__ pullover __one?_A white pullover dress shirt appeared. _Hot__ pink!_It changed colors. _A__ black __vest,__that __clasps __together._ One appeared. _A__ black __skirt,__that __also __fastens __with __clasps__… __and__ a __black __and __white__ striped __belt!_Voila! It was a little too long though, so I thought it shorter. I clapped. _Now__ for __the __shoes._Platform Goth boots that buckled. _Perfecto!__All __done._

The figure turned its back towards me and rushed backwards. It was going to crash right into me! I wanted to turn tail and run, but I couldn't move. As I closed my eyes I felt a push and another jolt. When I opened them, I was in a large rectangular gray tiled room. There were two green double doors on one side, bleachers on another, and two large flat screens on each end. Painted on the floor was three Pokéballs. I looked around. Everyone else was there too, and they were all staring at me.

"Why were your eyes closed?" asked Gloria peculiarly. She was dressed in full brown and white leather cowgirl garb.

"I got scared when—"

"—When that figure rushed toward you?" It was Joshua. He looked pretty plain, wearing a t-shirt, a sweater, and a jacket with military green pants. He had made himself a little shorter, a little more muscular, and changed his hair color from brown to a dark blonde. His goatee remained the same color. He was smirking at me.

He looked like he wanted to make a smart comment but Carl cut him off. "Nice outfit." I looked at him. He was wearing a black cloak with dark sunglasses and black leather biker gloves with cut-off fingers. Then I looked down at me. I was wearing the outfit I had come up with! I swallowed out of embarrassment and pushed my glasses up on my nose.

"Th-thanks." It felt a lot more provocative than it looked. I licked my lips. The air tasted stale. Just then, the screens flickered on. Dr. Honda was on them.

"HE-llo everyone!" He looked around. "Good, looks like everyone made it. Not pushing too many boundaries with the outfits. Good I like it. Now, it's time for the surprise. The five of you will make the Elite Four and the Grand Champion."

"But there's only four of us," piped up Gloria.

"Yeah, the fifth person, she's back in. But we're not waiting for her to get here; you all are going to battle each other for the title of Grand Champion."

"Um," I was tapping my foot on the hard tile ground, my arms crossed, "I don't mean to point out the obvious…"

"Yes you do."

"…But we don't have any Pokémon."

A small drawer under the screen closest to us opened up from the wall. Inside were four rectangular electronics: an all black one, a black and yellow one, a white and brown one, and a green and blue one. I instinctively grabbed the black and yellow electronic and held it by the pink strap in front of my eyes.

"We have improved the Pokécatch and Pokédex. They are now combined into the Pokétasker. It even has a phone! Now you're probably wondering what this has to do with catching your first Pokémon. Check your Pokétasker's first and second apps and third. The first one is called a Seeker. It searches out the Pokémon of your choice. The second is a Leveler; it sets the levels of all your Pokémon to the level of your choice. You are going to find your first Pokémon and set its level to 50. When you do that, come back here. Oh, and that third app is a GPS. That might come in handy."

We turned to leave.

"Wait, wait, wait! You can't go without your Pokéballs!" We all turned, staring at disbelief at the screen.

"We still have Pokéballs?" scoffed Carl, "You'd think they were included they way your talking."

"What's Pokémon without the Pokéball?" it was Jeffrey in the background.

I raised an eyebrow. "He's got a point."

The drawer slid back into the wall and one under slid out. He picked up a small Pokéball that could be held with two fingers and a thumb, just like in the TV series. I held it up in front of me.

"Doesn't look like any Pokéball I've seen."

"It's new."

"Of course."

"It's called the Opening Catch ball. This Pokéball guarantees that a trainer's _first_ catch is successful as long as the Pokémon is _under_ level thirty. Alrighty then, off you go."

We walked out the door and went our separate ways. I went down the steps away from the large gray building and down a long road. I couldn't tell where it ended, or even _if_ it ended. The scenery was beautiful: wild flowers blowing in the fields, trees humming with life inside them, a soft breeze, a clear cloudless sky. Before I knew it though, I was lost in a forest, and feeling mighty uncomfortable. I decided to turn on Pokétasker and went to its Seeker. I keyed in the name 'Skitty' and started walking. For a while I found nothing. I was only getting paranoid with all the Pokémon sounds I was hearing. Then, after walking aimlessly for about forty-five minutes, a black and white picture of a Skitty started blinking on the radar. I looked up and there she was, peeking out from under a bush. I started making cooing noises at her.

"Ty?"

"Come here girl."

"Skit...ty?"

"It's alright." She was inching closer. The Opening Catch ball was clutched by my sweaty hand. Every so often she took a step closer until finally she was sitting in front of me. I was sitting on my knees, the ball resting in the palms of my hands. The little Skitty was looking at it.

"Skitty-ty!" She lunged forward and touched her nose to the ball. It immediately popped open and sucked her inside. Startled, I dropped the ball. It was jerking back and forth. It jerked three times then I heard a click. I picked up the ball and stared at it, then I smiled.

"Yay!" I squealed like a little kid, "I caught my first Pokémon! I caught a Skitty!" I looked around quickly to make sure no one heard me. Then, with the Opening Catch ball held tightly in my palms, I turned on the GPS function and hurried back to the building.

The outside of the building looked familiar but as soon as I walked inside I could tell things were different. There were two counters, both unmanned. Behind each counter was a doorway and in between both counters was a closed door.

"This was not here before."

I walked up to the middle door and turned the knob. Slowly, I opened the door and walked inside. The door closed behind me. It was pitch black. Suddenly the lights turned on and I was back in the original room. Just then, I realized what the room was.

"Battle stations everyone!" It was Dr. Ichigo Honda, "Jaime, Gloria since you're the first ones back you'll battle first."

I looked at the ball in my hands. Kept tightly inside was a Skitty. Knowing a lot about them, I knew it was very hard to gain their trust.

"Excuse me Dr. Honda," I said, "May I have a moment?" The doctor looked surprised.

"Why… um… yes, go into that room right over there."

I exited the arena into a small waiting room and pressed the button to open the ball. The Skitty came out. When it saw the small enclosed space she was in, she immediately started hissing at me.

"Skitty, Skitty, SKI-TTY!"

I sighed. "Yeah, this wasn't what I expected either."

The Skitty stopped hissing and sat down, it's tail waving wildly. "Skit?"

"Well, I didn't think we'd be the only alpha testers and I thought we'd actually have time to get acquainted before we battled for the title of Grand Champion."

"Skitty ty?"

"Yeah, Grand Champion. It's a big honor but that's not really what I expected when I found out this was a Pokémon game. I wanted a simple life, with a ponyta ranch and a Skitty."

"Skitty?"

"Yeah! I guess that's you."

"Skit Skitty!"

"I'd pretended I had a ponyta ranch in all the older games…"

The Skitty had stopped listening. She was batting her pincushion tail.

"Yeah, you're a Skitty alright. That's my Skitty. That's my girl." I reached out to pet her but when her eyes narrowed, becoming teeny tiny slits, I pulled back. "Too soon?"

Slowly, she walked up to me. She rubbed up against my leg and started purring. I patted her gently between the ears.

"I think I'm going to throw the battle." The Skitty began shaking her head wildly. "You don't want me to?" She looked at me as if to say, _'__Do__this__for__me?__'_ I nodded. "Alright. Never quit! We can do this!"

"Skit ty ty!"

I walked out the door and looked at both monitors. "Alright Dr. Honda, I'm ready." I stared at the Opening Catch ball with determination and threw it into the air. "Go, Neko!" My Skitty, Neko, popped out her ball and landed in the arena.

"Go Oddish!" A plum colored Oddish popped out of Gloria's ball and landed in the arena. She hadn't given it a name.

"Set your Levelers to 50. Good, now hit Enter. Good. Unlike most battles challenger goes first. Begin!"

"Neko use pound!" Neko took off charging toward the unsuspecting little Oddish. The force she used on him made me feel a bit sorry for him, but I had to keep my head in the battle.

"Oddish use wrap!" Vines shot out from under Oddish's leaves and wrapped Neko tightly.

"Neko free your paw and use scratch!" The little Skitty wriggled until she got a paw free. She unsheathed her claws, as thin as pushpins, and used scratch on the Oddish. Startled, he let her go then lashed out again.

"Use poison sting Oddish!"

"O-ddish!"

"Dodge it and use pound again!" Neko was way ahead of me, veering away from the poison needle and streaking toward the Oddish. I stepped out of the way of the needle flying toward me and turned back to say, "Neko, not so hard this time!" but Oddish was already down, clearly worn out.

"It's alright Oddish. Return!" A red light beamed from the Opening Catch ball and Oddish went back inside.

"Alright Neko!" The Skitty trotted up to me looking proud.

"Alright my turn!" Startled I turned toward the bleachers to see Carl jumping down. Joshua had been sitting next to him, a satisfied smirk on his face. "Go, Rocker!" A Geodude came out of Carl's ball, pounding his fists together. "Use rock smash!"

"Geodude!" Like an avalanche, rocks pouring down through the ceiling.

"The hell?" I gasped. Neko was doing her best to dodge them but got hit by one particularly big rock. "Come on Neko," I said, clapping my hands agitatedly, "Shake it off girl." She got up, shaking her head, big ears flapping. She ran toward Rocker as if she was going to tackle him but skidded to a stop right in front of him.

"Tail whip!" I yelled. The Skitty turned and began slapping the Geodude with her pincushion tail. "Scratch!" I should've known that simple normal type move wouldn't work against a ground type Pokémon. The Geodude laughed and used rock tomb on my Skitty. I looked around wildly wondering what I should do.

"Skitty… Skitty! SKITTY!" Neko was tackling the tunnel from the inside. I wanted to tell her to stop, not to strain herself but a rock popped out from the tomb. That one misplaced rock made the tomb crumble. Neko was shivering with anger, eyes narrower than usual, tail high.

"Ski…TTY!" She took off toward him, jumped into the air, and started using fury swipes.

"Neko, stop!" My Skitty swiped at Carl's Geodude one last time before hopping off of him. Little pieces of rock were crumbling off of him and he lay there, looking defeated. "Is that it Rocker?"

"Geo…duuuuude…"

"Return!"

I looked up at Joshua. He was just staring. Was that… fear in his eyes? Slowly, he stood up and walked down the bleachers. He threw his Opening Catch ball up into the air, caught it, and stood at the other end of the arena.

"Good luck Joshua," I said softly.

"Same," he answered. "Go, Charmander!" He threw the ball out into the arena and out popped a little reddish-orange Charmander.

"Neko use pound!"

"Dodge it and use flamethrower!"

"Dodge it!" I saw Neko's ear flick as veered to the right and narrowly dodged the stream of fire coming out of Charmander's mouth. I wondered what would've happened to her if she had gotten hit.

"Charmander use fire circle!" Still recovering from the near-hit by the flamethrower, my Skitty wasn't prepared for fire circle. Just as its name suggests, she was surrounded by a circle of fire which was steadily closing in on her.

I started to panic. I had promised Neko that I wouldn't throw the battle. I also took this to mean I couldn't lose at all. I tried to think of a way for her to get out of it. Next thing I know, she was barreling through the flames toward the Charmander, who was heading her way about to let out another belch of flames.

"Fury swipes Neko!" She was one step ahead of me, claws already unsheathed she was slashing at the chamander, sending him squealing toward Joshua.

"Return." Neko skidded to a stop in front of Joshua, having nothing to slash at. She looked up at him, hissed, then turned tail and headed back toward me.

"Congratulations Jaime!" said Dr. Honda, popping back on the screens, "You are now our new Grand Champion!" I looked around wildly, surprised. Slowly, it started to sink in. I raised my arms in victory and looked down at my Skitty. She was cheering.

"Skitty! Skitty! Skitty!" Then suddenly, she collaped. I dove down on my knees and picked her up in my arms. Looking on the back of her neck, I could see a burn mark. She also had soot on her paws.

"She's hurt!"

"Here," said Dr. Honda, a drawer opening up from the wall, "Use this Burn Heal."

I took it and looked at it. In all other games, it was a potion. In this one, it was lotion. I squeezed some out onto my hand and rubbed it on Neko's neck and paws. I saw the redness on her dissipate, and she slowly raised her head.

"Skitty! Skitty!" She started cheering again. So did everyone else. I stood up, my Skitty in my arms, smiling widely. I hadn't been this happy since I got my first game design job with Nexon America.

"A new identity. I have to take on a new identity?" I was in a cozy office, my new office. The carpet was beige and the walls were manila yellow. The bookshelf and desk were a matching mahogany wood set, my favorite kind of wood. I was sitting in a large black padded, rolling, swivel chair. Dr. Ichigo Honda was sitting across from me in a burgundy padded metal chair as a blue tinted hologram.

"Not you," he answered, "The Grand Champion."

"I am the Grand Champion."

"And you must take on a Grand Champion name."

I sat there thinking it over. "So outside the Elite Four I can use _my_ name?"

"If you were able to change your look somehow—"

"—Or wear a cloak."

"That works too."

I was thinking, _Why __do __I__ have __to __change __my __name __anyway?_

"If people on the street knew who you are, they'd try and challenge you on the spot. We can't have that. They must follow the rules: beat all the gym leaders, the Elite Four, then the Grand Champion." It was if the guy had read my mind.

"They're supposed to beat me?"

"Not if you don't want them to."

I tapped my finger on my lip. The hologram of the doctor just sat there staring at me. "Aibyouka Chan," I said at last.

"What?"

"Aibyouka Chan. That'll be my name."

"That's not exactly a Japanese last name…"

"I don't care! My name _will_ be Aibyouka Neko."

"Well alright."

Out of thin air, a nameplate with _Aibyouka __Chan_ written on it appeared on my desk. I half-smiled, nodded and stood up. I walked out the office back into the arena, Hologram Honda walking behind me. The other members of the Elite Four were conversing. Their Pokémon were playing with each other. Rocker the Geodude was watching in awe as Charmander puffed out smoke in the shapes of Pokémon. Neko seemed to be having a staring contest with Oddish. I smiled. It seemed she was making friends. That was good. I had been worried when I first caught her. Joshua stepped in front of me and snapped me out of my happy thoughts.

"Good job today."

"Th-thanks…" I stuttered, looking down.

"Just you wait though, when my Charmander becomes a charazard, I just may challenge you for your title."

I raised my head smiling. "Just _you_ wait 'til I find a moonstone and evolve my Skitty into a Delcatty!" Joshua wasn't paying attention to me though, we was looking at the ceiling, scratching his head.

"Why didn't my Charmander evolve when I set my Leveler?"

"That's a very good question," said Hologram Honda, "The leveler is a very special app, only for the Elite Four and Grand Champion. It… fake levels your Pokémon, raising only its power and PP temporarily, however it can't learn moves or evolve like a Pokémon would if it _actually_ leveled."

"So how long does this… fake leveling last?" asked Gloria.

"As long as one battle," the doctor answered.

"Yo doc, focus your attention on the fifth screen." It was Jeffrey in the background.

"Fifth screen?" I said.

"Oh yes, the fourth member of the Elite Four arrived while you all were battling. She's on her way."

The hologram disappeared and no one appeared on the screens, but we could still hear what was going on, like a PA system.

"Good," said Dr. Honda, "She's done choosing her look. Makes sure she gets transported into the game."

"The character fused with her conscious, but her conscious isn't going anywhere. Don't worry though, it's a simple glitch, I can fix it."

"Not right now, when the rest of the team comes. For now, force her in."

"Here comes my if…" muttered Gloria.

We had all sat on the bleachers just listening, intrigued. For a while there was silence and some key clicking. Then, all of a sudden, there were extremely loud beeps that made us have to cover our ears.

"Told you."

"What's going on?" Dr. Honda barked.

"Uh… uh…"

"I demand to know what's going on! What are all these warnings popping up on the screen?"

"She's in the game, but I can't locate her conscious!"

"You didn't set coordinates for her?"

"I did, but they bugged up!"

"What the…" There was another long loud beep, then eerie silence.

"Julia! Julia Robinson! Can you hear me?" Jeffrey was shouting frantically.

_Julia__… __I__know__that__name__…_ Then it hit me.

"Julia!" I screamed. As I stood up, Neko hopped out my lap. I ran down the steps, tripped, and stumbled the rest of the way down until I hit the hard floor. I stood back up, shook off my embarrassment, and looked from one television screen to another. "Dr. Honda!" His face appeared on the screens. "I know her!" I cried.

"You know that girl?"

"I know her!"

"How do you know Julia?"

"I know her!" I was breathing hard and wasn't really thinking straight. Neko hopped down the steps and began rubbing up against my leg, but that wasn't calming me down.

"You said she's in the game, let me find her."

"She could be anywhere."

"Not exactly _anywhere_," Jeffrey seemed oddly calm. Dr. Honda's face disappeared from one of the screens and his appeared. "I did implant a "just-in-case" mechanism into the game… you know… just in case."

"My if…"

I saw the doctor's eye twitch. "Go on…"

"Well, if something like this were to happen, I made it so that the conscience would be transported right to the middle of Katakana, the game world. Most likely, she's _under_ the world."

"Under?" said Carl from the top of bleachers, "How is that possible?"

"This is still a game," answered Jeffrey, "You go so far down or so far up and there's just… nothingness. Of course for those people who would want to venture so far down or so far up, the land or sky would just start looping like a song so they'd never reach that point, but there is actually a possible end."

"So are you saying Julia is just floating around in that nothingness?" asked Joshua.

"Not around, she's stationary, but she is floating."

"Let me find her!" I said at last; finally calm enough to say something besides 'I know her'.

"You can't. We've got to work out the bugs and go live in two weeks for closed beta testing."

"So you're actually sending these contraptions out?" shouted Gloria, standing up, "You make us alpha test before all the bugs were worked out? I thought you said this was _safe_. You're dealing with _lives_ here! You don't know what you're doing and _this__is__my__IF_!"

I looked at Jeffrey. He seemed taken aback, maybe even a little hurt.

"Do you think you can find her in two weeks?" asked Dr. Honda.

"No. Give me a month, month and a half, tops."

"But it takes time to travel there, and back."

"Don't worry; I'll be back before anyone is ready to challenge me." Joshua put his hand on my shoulder which made me jump. I hadn't even realized he had come down the bleachers, or that he was standing behind me.

"I'll go with you," he said softly.

"No!" I shrugged him off me. "I'm going alone."

"Skitty?" Neko sat in front of me and stared at me.

"Well, not exactly alone." I bent down and pet her, "Of course you're going too."

"Skitty!"

A drawer opened from out of a wall. Inside was a black backpack.

"These are some supplies you may need," said Dr. Honda, "Ten Pokéballs and one Great ball; healing potions, ten of each type; two Revives and one Max Revive; three Repels, one escape rope, an umbrella, twenty cans of Pokémon food, and a fifty percent off bike coupon."

"Thanks," I said, grabbing the backpack and strapping it on. It was incredibly light. "You sure you put stuff in here?"

"Remember, it's a game."

"Right." I turned back to the Elite Four, now painfully aware they were missing a member. "Well," I sighed, "Wish me luck."

"Good luck," they all answered back.

I breathed in deeply, suddenly nervous. Neko rubbed her tail along my leg as if to say, _'__I__'__m__right__here.__'_ I nodded, walked to the end of the arena, opened the door, and stepped out.

The sun was setting upon Katakana. Even with my Skitty by my side, I was feeling awfully alone. I couldn't even see her because we were in tall grass. The only way I could tell she was still with me was by her occasional 'Skitty!' and a slap from her tail. I stopped walking and squatted in the grass.

"Ty?"

"I'm just tired."

"Skit."

After leaving the Elite Four, we walked over a drawbridge into down a path into an immense forest without stopping to drink, eat, or rest. From that forest we walked into a cave. It was pretty a straightforward shot. It was marked _Victory__ Road_. I could never understand why Victory Road is always a cave. On the other side of the cave was tall grass. I was surprised I met no Pokémon on the way. But even without meeting any the journey was a _long_ one.

"Dam," I said at last, "Trainers even make it to the Elite Four they're gonna have to rest a week before challenging us."

"Skitty! Skitty!" Suddenly I heard a rustle in the grass.

"Shhh."

"Ski…"

"Shhh!"

I listened. The rustling was heading toward us. I began scooting back slowly, raising myself up off the ground little by little. Whatever was in the grass could tell what I was doing because it was getting faster. Swish, swish, swish, swish! I stood up and started running backwards. Whatever was following us was running too.

"Neko ru—!"

"Skitty Skitty!"

Petals went flying and Neko smacked right into me. I fell to the ground and hit my head.

"Roselia!" Another smack then a thud.

"Ssssssk!" Two whacks and another thud. I opened my eyes and was looking upward at the darkening sky. I couldn't tell if it was me or if I was seeing gridlines. I sat up slowly and realized my glasses had gotten knocked off. I felt around until I found them and slipped them on my eyes. My Skitty and an angry Roselia were staring at each other, holding their ground, ready to lunge at each other at any moment.

I sat there stunned, rubbing my head. The Roselia used magical leaf but Neko dodged it and slammed into her. The Roselia stumbled, but regained her balance and used poison sting which grazed Neko's ear, but didn't do any real damage. Neko went in for another pound but the Roselia totally dodged it and took off into the grass. Angry, Neko unsheathed her claws and went chasing after her. I got up and went running after the both of them. I took a Pokéball out my backpack and unclipped my Pokétasker from my belt I scrolled to the Pokédex because I realized there was something weird about the Roselia. Most Roselia's leaves are bright green, their skin pure white, and their roses a variation of red and blue. But this one; her leaves were dark green, her skin off-white, and her roses… black! When I finally got caught up to them, they were staring at each other again. I locked my Pokédex onto Roselia and the 'dex began talking.

_"__The__ '__black __petal__' __Roselia __is __a __rare __form__ of __Roselias __that __has __only __ever __been __spotted __around__ Victory__ Road. __Its__ poison __sting __is__ more __potent __than __other __Roselia__s'.__"_

I clipped my Pokétasker back onto my belt and looked up just in time to see Neko tackle her to the ground and begin using fury swipes on her. The Roselia raised one of her roses and stuck it right in Neko's face.

"Neko!" I shouted, "Get out the way!"

She jumped out of the way just in time because another one of Roselia's stingers shot into the air. Amazed that it missed and out of breath, the Roselia just lay there. I acted quickly, grabbing a Pokéball and throwing it at her. It jerked once before clicking. I ran to snatch it and my Skitty up before barreling through the grass. I was running so fast that I almost ran right into another river. This one didn't have a bridge. I step back to make sure I was safely on the banks of the river.

"Crap," I breathed. I sat Neko down and sank to the ground, looking at the Pokéball in my hands. "The rare black petal Roselia. What a find!"

"Ski…ty."

"You think I should bring her out?"

"Skiiii…" Neko's stomach growled.

"Alright, alright, I know you're hungry." I reached into my backpack, grabbed a can of Pokémon food, opened it, and sat it down in front of my Skitty.

She walked up to it, took a sniff, and went, "Skiiii…"

"Well that's all I've got so you either eat that or nothing at all."

Neko sat on the ground and curled her tail over her paws, looking defiant, but when her stomach growled again she dipped her head down and began eating. I sat there, staring at the Pokéball containing my new Roselia.

"I wonder what I'll call her." After a while, the simple name came to me, "Rose." I pressed the button and out she popped onto the ground. Neko held her head up and stared at her. After lying there awhile, the Roselia sat up.

"Rose?"

"Yes, that's your new name!" I said excitedly.

"Rose?"

"Yup."

"Skitty."

"Roselia!" She sat there giving both of us a hurt look.

"Neko, share some of your food with her."

"Skitty!"

"Neko share! I wasn't going to let you eat all of that in one night anyway. We're going to be on the road a long time."

Reluctantly, Neko moved over. Rose got up and walked over to the can, and plopped back down the ground opposite from Neko. Her back was towards me. She parted her petals and used the thorns on her arm stalks to spoon food into her mouth. For a while, I just watched them eat.

"I'm Jaime Smith," I said finally.

"Rose."

"And that's my Skitty Neko."

"Rose."

"I'm on a mission to find a girl, Julia Robinson. She's trapped somewhere in the middle of Katakana you see. You think you could help me?"

"Lia?"

"Skit skit Skitty!"

"Ro-se-lia!"

I got up and took the half eaten can of food, closed the top, and put it back in my backpack. I stared in wonderment as Skitty and Roselia had a full blown conversation, or maybe argument, I couldn't tell. I don't know what Neko said to Rose, but she turned toward me and nodded in agreement.

"That's gr…" My Pokétasker started ringing. I grabbed it and pressed the 'ANSWER' button on the screen. "H-hello?"

"Hey it's me Jeffrey."

"Hi… How'd you get my number?"

"We made it. It's 1."

"Just 1? How convenient."

"Yeah… You ready to come back in?"

"In, you mean to the real world? Sure I guess, but I don't know how."

"When you're ready just press the 'SIGN OFF' button on your 'tasker. Don't worry about your Pokémon if you leave them out. They'll sort of… sign off too."

"Ok." I hung up and looked at both my Pokémon. There was no way I was leaving them out with the glitching that was going on. "I'm going to return you both to your Pokéballs because I have to go back to the real world."

They looked at each other like they had no clue what I was talking about but when they looked at me they both nodded. I returned them both and stuck the balls into my backpack. Then, I pressed 'SIGN OFF' on my Pokétasker and closed my eyes. I felt a jolt, and when I opened my eyes I was looking at the frosted glass of the VR. The door panel slid open and I sat up.

"Welcome back." It was Jeffrey standing over me. I looked up and glared at him. He slowly backed up and I got out of the box. The others were returning too. I looked around the room. Part of it had been sectioned off by a black tarp. A wire stuck out from under it and was connected to a computer screen.

"Is that her?" I asked quietly.

Jeffrey nodded.

"Let me see her!" Jeffrey grabbed my arm and held it tightly. He was stronger than he looked.

"You can't."

"Why not?"

"We can't have you doing anything brash."

"I wouldn't do anything like that!" I pulled my arm and he only squeezed it tighter.

"Listen to yourself! Your tone! You're out of sorts and you're not thinking straight! You act as if you're in love with her; now calm down!"

I stopped struggling and sighed. He was right.

"Good." He slowly released my arm. By this time, everyone was staring at us but when I glared at them they started talking to each other like they didn't notice anything.

"We decided we're going to go out to a nice Japanese restaurant and get something to eat," said Carl.

"Yeah," added Gloria, "Spend half our paychecks on it too."

"You should come, Jaime," offered Joshua.

"No thanks," I grumbled, "I'm going home." With that I stormed out the door.

It was raining and I had no umbrella. My motorcycle had not yet been shipped from the States so I had to walk home. On the way I stopped at McDonalds and got something to eat. Everyone eating there seemed surprised and equally excited to see a black person. They were also surprised that I knew what to do at a fast food restaurant. It's still a fairly new concept to them.

I ordered to burgers, fries, and a milkshake but I only ate half a burger and drank half the shake. I was too sad and it wasn't because of the movie on TV that I could barely understand. I put the rest of my food in the overly stocked fridge and curled up in bed. I stayed in my apartment for the next two weeks in a state of despair, too afraid to go back to Virtuous Games. _'__What__if__the__same__thing__that__happened__to__her,__happens__to__me?__'_ was the question that kept playing over and over in my mind. I wondered how she felt, or if she could even feel. I wondered if she even knew what was going on.

After two weeks had passed without me contacting anyone I finally decided that I was going back. I had personally volunteered to save her. No one else was going to care like I was. That may have been my problem, but I was going to be her solution.

I walked into the building and stood there silently, waiting to see if anyone was going to acknowledge my presence. I was surprised that it was even open this early. Jeffrey was sitting at a computer desk, the doctor standing over him. They looked tired, like they hadn't slept in a while. Neither one of them noticed me. I stepped lightly, trying to be as quiet as possible, but the heel of my Mary Jane's got stuck in a crack in the floor. I stumbled and fell hard on the concrete. Both Jeffrey and the doctor turned around. I stood up slowly and smoothed the ruffles on my black Lolita dress. (It wasn't as big or as frilly as some of my other ones. I don't think I could fit in the console in one of those.)

Jeffrey motioned to one of the corners. I looked and sitting there was my yellow and black motorcycle.

"It came last week," he said groggily, stifling a yawn, "They wanted to take it to your house but they didn't know where you lived, so they brought it here."

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"We would've called but we figured you wanted to be left alone."

"Thanks," I mumbled again.

"Are you sure you're ready to go back in?" asked Dr. Honda.

"No," I said, "But I'm going in anyway."

The door on one of the consoles slid open.

"In you go."

I climbed back in my console and before the door closed I asked Jeffrey, "What happens if you drown?"

"Like if you're trying to cross a raging river? You respawn back on the bank where you started."

"You couldn't make it so we respawn on the _other_ side of the river?"

Jeffrey laughed. "That's not much of a challenge now is it?"

I chuckled dryly and closed my eyes as the door slid closed and locked into place. I felt no jolt as I was transported into the game. Things were different this time though. There was a seizure warning that popped up eerily in front of my eyes. Jeffrey instructed me to slide it past me with my hands as if I was sliding an iPod Touch screen with my finger. I did so and I was then transported into a bright white circular plaza.

"Oh god!" I cried squeezing my eyes shut.

"Sorry," said Jeffrey, "You can change the color of the plaza on Options Way."

"Options Way?" I opened my eyes and spun around and realized that there were different streets that led from the plaza. I read the name of each one. Cartridge Parkway, Downloads Avenue, Shopping Street, and Options Way. "How cool!" At the same time I was thinking, _Lame__names__though._

"You'll find Pokémon Existent on Downloads Avenue." I followed his directions and walked down a short street. At one side of the street was one red and white building. The sign on the building read: Pokémon Existent. I didn't go in right away. I kept walking. I did finally reach an ending point. There was a giant brick wall that kept me from going any farther. It extended both left and right as far as I could see and I figured at some point there would be brick walls there too. Satisfied, I walked back to the red and white building. I opened the black door and walked inside.

I had to read through some text about how Pokémon Existent is only a game and nothing that happens to you in the game happens to you for real. _Yeah,_ I thought, _Unless__ you__ get __your __conscious __lost __somewhere __inside._ Afterwards there was a tutorial that I skipped. I finally reached the screen I remembered: the beautiful meadow with the shade tree, then I was taken back to the black space. Standing a little ways from me was my character. I stared at it for a while.

"What am I supposed to do, say I wanna play as this character?" She zoomed toward me and no matter how much I tried to keep my eyes open I ended up closing them again.

I didn't open my eyes until I heard the roar of water in my ears. The water was rough and foam was swirling along with the current. I took out my Pokéballs containing my Skitty and my Roselia. I released them onto the grass. They sat there looking at me for a moment before they made any sign that they knew who I am.

"Skitty!"

"Hi Neko!" I said smiling. I knelt down and rubbed my hand down her back.

"Roselia." Rose rubbed one of her roses along my cheek, her petals soft, and her sweet scent intoxicating.

"Hi there Rose…" I said leisurely, breathing in the sweet smell. I stood up slowly and looked at the raging river, the wind making it a frothy soup. "How are we going to get across this?" Rose used magical leaf, sending sweet scented leaves floating through the air and down the river. I stood there a moment, waiting for something to happen. Soon, I began hearing noises coming from downriver.

"Herp!"

"Derp!"

"Herp!"

"Derp!"

"Herp!"

"Derp?"

Two gray stones were moving through the water. They stopped in front of us and climbed out of the water. Two squishy balls, their bodies, were attached to the stones. They had beady black eyes, no apparent nose, small thin mouths with little pointy fangs, stubby legs, and webbed feet. They looked somewhat like Lileeps but with stones. These weren't Pokémon I had seen before. I pulled out my Pokétaster and went to the 'dex.

_"__Herp,__ the__ stepping __stone __Pokémon. __Herps __are __known __for __their __excellent __swimming __ability, __despite __looking __quite __heavy.__ Their __stone __backs __are __actually __hollow __and__ used __for __storing __food__ and__ the__ outer __rim__ is __quite __sturdy. __Herps __are __only __male.__Their __counterpart, __Derp, __is__ female.__Herps__ are __usually __darker __in__ color __than __Derps.__"_

"Herp…Derp?"

"Herp!"

"Derp!"

"Ro-se-ro!"

"Skit-ty!"

"Herp, Derp, you think you could help us out? We're trying to get across this river."

Herp and Derp looked at one another than responded with a happy, 'Herp!' and 'Derp!' and waded into the water. Rose trotted on to the Derp and she carried her to the other bank. Neko got on my shoulders and I climbed on the Herp and he calmly carried us to the other bank. We all hopped off before they waded out of the water.

"Thank you Herp. Thank you Derp."

"Per!"

"Der!"

"Well… I guess we'll be going now… Bye." We all turned and started walking but noticed the rhythmic swishes of waddling creatures behind us. We turned to see the Herp and Derp following us.

"Derp!"

"Herp!"

They quickly flattened themselves to the ground and acted like stones.

"We saw you ya know…" They rose up and gave us sad looks. "Would you… like to come with us?"

"Her!"

"Der!"

"Rose!"

"Skitty!"

I took two Pokéballs out of my bag. "Maybe you two will come in handy." I decided not to give them nicknames. I liked their natural ones too much. They reminded me of what some old friends of mine used to say. I threw a ball at each and in they went. They clicked immediately; there was no struggle. I grabbed the two balls and stuck them in my bag. _Herp__and__Derp__… __How__cute!_

We walked a winding road, the river bubbling beside us. When the river widened the road veered away from it, and before I knew it I was in a town. Upon entering the town there was a wire arch with a sign hanging from it saying, 'Welcome to Enots Town!' I stood there looking at it peculiarly.

"Enots town? What a weird name. Doesn't sound like any foreign language I've ever heard." However the more I looked at it, the more it seemed to make since to me. "Enots… Enots… Enost… Eston… Stone! It's just stone backwards!" A Giraffrig drawn cart whisked past me into town, stinky fish loaded into it.

"Hey kid, watch out!" shouted the driver, not much older than me, maybe even the same age. I could tell Neko was enticed by the smell, but I didn't expect her to hop off my shoulders and go running into town after the cart. I ran after her. The smell of fish was everywhere and I couldn't tell which one of the many roads and alleys she could have gone down. As I stood there in the busy intersection full of players, Pokémon, and NPCs someone ran past me in quite a hurry, a blur among many, making me lose my balance. Police NPCs, I could tell by the blank look on their faces, rushed passed me, knocking me off my feet. I fell on the cobblestone and had to scurry to safety on the side of the road before I was trampled by a group of peeping Piplups, being hurried along by a young boy. I looked at the NPCs running after the shape and realized that they were shouting something.

"Stop thief!"

I got up and took off in the same direction. NPCs walk and run at a set speed. They can never pick up the pace unlike a real player. At the rate they were going, they'd never catch the thief. I figured I'd have better luck. As I ran through the streets, dodging and weaving between others, I heard the excited mew of a Skitty. I slowed just enough to let her catch up and hop onto my shoulders, and then took off again. I flew past the police and out of the town on a side road. I could see the figure in the distance. From a distance, I could tell he was wearing a blood red cloak with gold accents, white pants, and wearing gold sandals. He was fast too, and could tell he was being followed, because he picked up the pace.

"Ty!"

"Go after him Neko!"

"Ski…TYYYY!" She went barreling into the guys legs knocking him to the ground. As I got closer I saw a Torchic hop out of the guy's cloak.

"Use peck!"

"Toooor-chic!"

The Torchic stumbled and missed. By that time Neko had run up a tree. The Torchic teetered to the base and began shouting at her. I had stopped to rest but had to pick up speed again when the thief took off again. I could clearly tell what he had stolen: fish. He looked back at me and dropped them. I didn't care about the fish; I cared about catching the thief. He stopped in between two nearby trees and smiled at me. I didn't know what he was planning. _Maybe __he __has __a __weapon._The next thing he did surprised me the most. He actually propelled himself off one tree to run up another and into the topmost branches. I wasn't sure I could pull that off but I tried anyway. I actually made it to the first branch, but I had to climb the others. I perched myself on a top branch and when I looked up as was staring face-to-face with the thief. He was still smiling, and looked familiar. As I stared at him, I realized: he's a _she_! There is only one person I was ever friends with who looked this much like a boy to me.

"Blaze?"

"Jaime!"

"You're a closed beta tester?"

"_You__'__re_ a closed beta tester?"

"Uhh… Yeah. I guess so…"

We were quiet for a while. I was peering at her. She had long spiky black hair with red highlights on one side of her hair. It was sticking up behind her making her look like a cockatoo. The hair on the other side of her head was cut short. She used her hand and brushed her spikes to the side of her head. She rubbed the grease into her hands. You could tell by the shininess of her hair that it was greasy, but not a dirty kind of grease. It was styling grease, used by someone who loves styling their hair throughout the day. Her cloak had a high collar allowing her to hide her face if she needed to. The gold accent on it reminded me of an arrow point. She wore a necklace around the collar with her Pokétasker along with four feathers. I could tell she was checking me out too.

"You look a mess…" she said finally, sticking her hand down the collar of her cloak and pulling out a 'kerchief. She rubbed my cheek and held it up in front of me. It was smeared with blood and black lipstick. I hadn't even realized. Next she picked a twig out of my hair. "Except for your outfit, people would think you're a bum."

"Hey you bum!" A shout came from the bottom of the tree. "What the hell man? You just left the fish on the ground?"

Blaze poked her head out the tree. "It was in good hands."

"With your Torchic? It's crying because this Skitty won't come down from a tree."

Just then an Apom skittered up the tree. It shook my branch making me lose my balance and fall out. I hit the ground with a thud. I looked up and staring down at me was another girl. She wore a burgundy tube top and loincloth, both with the same gold accent as Blaze. Over the top she wore a purple jacket with sheer white sleeves and puffy pants, one leg purple and the other leg white. She kept her Pokétasker strapped to her pants. Her hair was lavender, braided neatly, and on them she wore burgundy and gold beads along with feathers. Like Blaze, she had gold sandals.

"Ariel?"

"Jaime!"

Ariel Francisco and Blaze Bryant have been best friends since they were little kids. I didn't meet them until tenth grade. Ariel was always a bit too moody for my tastes, but we got along fine I guess. Blaze I always had a little soft spot for. Seeing them both now, I had mixed feelings. Blaze hopped out of the tree and landed in front of me. She held out her hand, I grabbed it, and she pulled me on my feet. I walked over to the tree where my Skitty was and held out my arms.

"Come on Neko." She jumped in them and I kissed her forehead. "Sorry about that Blaze."

"No prob," she said. "Come here Inferno." A sad looking Torchic loped up to and looked at her wide-eyed. "It's alright. You actually helped me out. Jaime here is an old friend of mine." The Torchic's eyes brightened and he peeped happily. I laughed. Ariel's Apom just stared at me with narrowed eyes.

"Oh," scoffed Ariel, "You consider her a friend now?"

Blaze cleared her throat nervously. "Haven't I always?"

Before Ariel could respond I spoke up. "My knee hurts." It did… badly. I looked down, saw that it was scratched and bloody. I cringed.

"C'mon, let's get her to our base." Blaze wrapped her arm under mine. She smelled nice, like an exotic flower. Ariel got the other side. We began walking, limping in my case, deeper into the forest.

"You have a base?" I asked, intrigued.

"Yeah," said Ariel, "A lair too."

"But that's a few towns over in Aval."

"Lava backwards."

"I figured that out… thanks." I was curious. "Why do you guys have a base… and a lair?"

They both smiled at each other and sat me on a nearby rock. Neko hopped in my lap. "Soaring through the wind…" began Blaze.

"…Like a phoenix on treasured wings…" continued Ariel.

"…Sharp as a knife in a foes back…"

"We're team arrow, watch us fly!" they ended together.

"Toooorchic!"

"Apom!"

I stared at them with a raised eyebrow. Neko yawned. "Work on it…" I said slowly. They helped me back up and we began again. "So Ariel," I said, "What's your Apom's name?"

"Passion. Her name's Passion."

"Passion. That's a nice name."

"Pom!"

Eventually we came to a cave. The entrance was blocked by boulders. We passed the front and went to the side. It was covered in bushes and tall weeds. Passion bounced forward and used the extra hand on her tail to part them. There was a hole on the side of the cave. We walked in and I was amazed. In the main room, the floor was covered in Middle Eastern looking rugs and pillows. Beads and a chandelier hung from the ceiling. In the middle of the room was a short table with a beautiful candle centerpiece. On the side of the room was also a small chrome kitchen. Blaze took me into her room to rest; Ariel wouldn't allow me into hers. Neko stayed in the main room, curled up on a pillow.

Blaze's room unnerved me at first. The holes in the cave walls which served as windows had blackened panes. The bed was only a mattress. Asian and German weapons of all sorts covered the white padded walls. Besides the weapons, the room reminded me of a mental hospital. Blaze laid me on the mattress.

"Where'd you get all these?"

"The city of Ajnin Iarumas. It's this ancient Asian-looking town. You'd like it."

I was catching on to the game of Towns-that-have-the-names-of-backwards-words. "The city is called Ninja Samurai?"

Blaze chuckled. "Ajnin Iarumas."

"What about those beautiful pillows in the main rooms?"

"Egarim. You'd love it. It looks like a city in ancient Egypt."

It took me a moment to figure out the word for that one. "Mirage," I said finally.

"Egarim," said Blaze smiling. She grabbed a bottle of scotch and poured some on a rag. She pressed it to my knee and I winced.

"Where'd you get the alcohol?" I asked, trying to be brave as she pressed harder and wiped repeatedly. She seemed be enjoying herself.

"Oh you can get that anywhere." She took some gauze out her cloak and tied it way too tightly around my leg, making me yelp. She laughed, loosened it, and wrapped it around my knee. "What made you decide to wear a skirt?" she asked, sitting down on the side of the mattress.

"I thought it was cute. What made you decide not to play a guy in a game for once?"

"It wouldn't let me change my gender…" I laughed. She stared at me long and hard. I stopped laughing and stared back. After a while I felt my cheeks getting red: I was blushing. Her eyes narrowed and she gave me a sick smile, then stood up. She walked to the doorway. As she closed the door, walking out, she looked back and said to me. "Come out when you're ready. Don't touch anything you don't know how to use."

I looked around and gulped. _Don__'__t __worry,_ I thought, _I__ won__'__t __be __touching__ anything __I _do_ know__ how __to __use._

I don't know how long I slept. Blaze's room was dark anyway. I opened the door and walked out. The candles in the chandelier were lit. Ariel was at the kitchen cooking. Passion was at the sink washing dishes. Blaze was at the table chugging a beer. Neko was on the floor sharing half a raw fish with Inferno. Blazed looked at me sideways and slammed the beer on the table, making Neko and I jump. No one else did, as if they were used to it.

"How many Pokémon you got?" she asked, slurred speech.

"Besides Neko? Three."

"Bring 'em out. They can join us."

"No they can't," said Ariel, "I'm already cooking extra for Jaime I'm not cooking for three more Pokémon."

Blaze turned and glared at her. I could easily tell she wasn't drunk but she was enjoying herself acting like it.

"It's alright," I said, sitting down at the table across from Blaze.

"It better be…" Ariel mumbled.

"How many is this?" I asked Blaze.

"My fifth…" she grunted, forcing a hiccup.

"Yeah right," I said, "It's your first." I reached across the table and took the bottle from her.

Her grogginess suddenly cleared. "Hehe. You sure you're old enough to drink Jaime?"

"Shut up bi—…"

"Skitty!"

"Sorry." I took a swig and slid the bottle back to her. Blaze looked at it like it was poisonous and slid it aside. Ariel sighed and turned off the fire. She brought us both our plates before bringing Passion's and her own to the table.

Dinner was delicious; at least I think it was. I was too groggy. I lay my head on the table thinking, the rest of my body strung out behind me. I knew I wasn't really drunk but I sure felt like it. I reached for my Pokétasker to log off at that moment but I couldn't remember how to. I grumbled and sighed. I felt like an idiot, still succumbing to peer pressure. _Why__'__d__I__take__all__those__shots?__I__already__feel__sick__… _Looking back now, all of that couldn't have been just beer.

"I'm going to bed," Blaze grumbled.

"So am I," said Ariel, hiccupping. She stood up, wobbling. Passion, who had been sleeping on two pillows, woke up and steadied Ariel with her tail. She helped her to her room and closed the door behind them. "Good night," she called.

"G'night," I managed to call.

"'Night," Blaze mumbled. She stood up, steadied herself, and began walking to her room.

I slowly lifted my head. "Where am I going to sleep?"

Blaze looked back, glassy eyed. "I see pillows, a rug, and a table." She hiccupped. "Go bananas."

I sighed, picked up the centerpiece, and placed it on the floor as gently as I could. I looked over at Neko. She was curled up asleep on a pillow, her tail whacking Inferno who was sleeping on the next pillow over. He didn't seem to be noticing though. He too, was fast asleep. I grabbed a couple of pillows and put them on the low table, one on top of the other. Then I grabbed a rug off the floor and climbed on the table, letting the rug land with a 'whump' on top of me. I sighed, even though it came out more like a growl, and drifted all off to sleep.

"Jaime. Yo. Jaime. Get up." I moaned and turned over, ignoring Blaze's voice. The table creaked.

"Tooooorchiiic!"

"Jaaaaimeeee," it was Ariel with that sickeningly-sweet tone, "Get up!" I felt something hard hit me in the back of the head. I turned on my back and looked up. Blaze and Ariel were staring down at me, Ariel holding my backpack in her hands. "Off my table. C'mon let's go." She dropped the backpack on my stomach and I puffed. I quickly pushed it off of me.

Grumbling, I rolled off the table and onto some pillows on the floor, holding my stomach. "Good morning…"

"How's your leg?" asked Ariel.

"Sore, but a lot better. Thanks."

"Feeling ok?" asked Blaze.

I was about to say yes when I suddenly felt sick. I shot up, looked around shortly for the bathroom before running to the hole that served as the front door. I parted the leaves and weeds that covered it and threw up. I could hear Blaze laughing from inside. Ariel started cursing. I walked back in, panting. Blaze pulled a wash cloth out of her cloak sleeve and threw it to me. I wiped my mouth on it.

"Nice of you to puke outside our front door," growled Ariel. "Guess who has to clean it up? That's right. Me."

"The bathroom's that way," said Blaze, pointing to a crack in the wall in between both their rooms.

"Good," I said, hiccupping and covering my mouth, "Because I think I need to use it."

"Get cleaned up," called Blaze as I squeezed through the crack, "We leave for the next town."

Neko squeezed through the crack behind me and down a narrow corridor was a door. I opened it, hurried inside, and shut the door. The bathroom was cramped. The tile was an ugly teal, and cheap looking too. It just made me feel sicker. I lifted the toilet lid and puked again. Neko sat on the sink mewing. When I was done, I flushed and grabbed a towel off the rack. I turned on the shower. Immediately my Skitty began hissing.

"What's wrong?" I asked laughing, "Don't you want to wash up?" She began clawing at the door. I opened it, and she ran out squealing. Before getting in the shower, there was a knock at the door.

"Jaime, you still dressed?" It was Ariel.

I chuckled. "If I said no would you still come in?"

"Ugh!" she cried, "You haven't changed a bit!" I heard something slam to the floor. "Blaze told me to give you these clothes. They're outside the door. You _better_ put them on when you're finished."

When I finished my shower, I opened the door a crack and pulled the clothes in. I unfolded the rumpled heap and looked at it. I could tell they were Blaze's. The pants were baggy. They were a blood red color, with gold fabric around the bottom of the legs. The shirt was a tight-fitting tank. It was also blood red, with the same gold arrowhead symbol on Blaze's and Ariel's team arrow clothes.

I put the clothes on and exited the bathroom. Blaze was leaning on the wall by the front door waiting for me, her own black backpack clutched in her hand. Ariel was mopping the stone floor.

"You're making me a Team Arrow member?"

"Temporary Team Arrow member."

"_Very_ temporary," added Ariel.

"Where are we going?" I asked, stuffing my other clothes in my backpack. I put it on and Neko hopped on top of it.

"Didn't you want to go to Ajnin Iarumas and Egarim?"

"Actually no. I'm on a mission."

"Mission?" Ariel looked up, intrigued.

"There's a girl. She's stuck in the middle of this world, in the middle of Katakana. I've been tasked to go find her."

"Tasked by who?" asked Blaze with narrowed eyes.

"By myself!"

"Do you know this girl personally?" asked Ariel, returning to mopping.

"I did… a long time ago… You've heard of her Blaze."

"Of course you did…" Ariel mumbled.

"Not like that!" I shouted defiantly.

Blaze looked like she was thinking, and finally said, "If you did, I don't remember. You know I only half listen to you." I rolled my eyes. "You said she's in the _middle_ of Katakana?" I nodded. Blaze and Ariel exchanged glances.

"You know what's there don't you Jaime?" Ariel asked. I shook my head.

"The Desert of Death…" whispered Blaze, right in my ear in the creepiest voice she could possibly make.

"God your breath…"

"The Desert of Death is a never-ending sandstorm fraught with sinkholes," began Ariel, "The sand is very loose, and if you don't fall through a sinkhole, you just might get buried by a mountain of rolling sand."

"They say there are Pokémon that can actually survive there," continued Blaze, "But no one knows for sure. The people in the village of Egarim only tell legends about them."

I just stood there listening and thinking. _The__game__has__only__been__in__closed__beta__for__about__a__week__and__there__are__already__legends?_ I smiled. _Why__haven__'__t__I__heard__these__legends,__or__about__these__notorious__places?_ Then I realized that I probably wasn't at the Elite Four long enough for any briefing. It was probably the Elite Four and the Nintendo company behind it that created these legends in the first place. I've heard about it happening in games before: employees spreading propaganda.

"Well," said Blaze finally, picking up her Torchic and stuffing him in her cloak, "Ready to go?" She turned and walked out the doorway, taking care not to step in my earlier mess. I followed her doing the same.

"Isn't Ariel coming?"

"She said she'd meet us at Ajnin." Blaze started walking.

"Will we be stopping in Aval on the way?" I started a little after her.

"Yeah, but first we have to get through Atilol."

"Lolita? Sounds like my kind of town!"

"It is… I hate it…"

"Why?"

"It's so sweet, unless you go to the dark side of the city."

"You do realize I'm Goth right?"

"Yeah whatever."

We continued walking. We had reached the edge of the forest and started on the path. I could see Enots behind us.

"You think the police know who you are?"

"They were NPC police and I stole from an NPC shop. They don't _really_ care."

Inferno popped his head out of Blaze's cloak. "Torchic tor!"

"Skiiiitty!"

"How far is Atilol?"

"A day-and-a-half's journey. Game time."

"Any danger?"

"It's a pretty straightforward shot. There is a short stretch of woods though, but once we're out of them there's a lovely lake where we can fish."

"Lovely." We continued walking quietly for a while.

"Wait, did you say game time?"

"Surely you've realized: a Katakana day is only twelve hours."

"O-of course," I stammered.

"You're an idiot."

My legs were starting to feel numb. I felt like we had been walking through the woods for hours. Blaze swore it had only been forty minutes. During our time in the woods, she had caught a Shedinja she named Halo and I caught a Rattatan I named Cheesy. Pokémon encounters were to be expected but I couldn't shake the feeling we were being watched by… something else. Blaze just thought I was being paranoid. I tried to shrug off the fear. Surely if she didn't notice anything there, there was nothing there.

Suddenly we heard a twig crack, then a rustle from a bush. We pinpointed the bush the noise was coming from and stared at it intently. Suddenly, a little Pikachu popped out. This yellow Pokémon in the middle of woods stuck out like a sore thumb. It just sat there looking at us, like it was waiting for us to do something.

"Should we try and catch it?" I asked finally.

"No!" said Blaze with much certainty, "A Pikachu wouldn't be out here in the woods. They would be near a city where there's electricity. No, this Pikachu belongs to somebody…"

The Pikachu's eyes narrowed angrily and it stood up. "Piikaa… PIKA!"

"Zeus use thunderbolt!"

"Pika…CHUUUUU!"

"Holy crap! Run!" shouted Blaze.

We immediately turned and ran, a bolt of lightning coming straight for us. Amidst the running, Inferno tumbled out of Blaze's cloak and landed a few paces where we tripped over a tree root, which sent Neko flying off of me. The lightning cracked just over our heads and hit a tree which landed on the path in front of us. We couldn't go back the way we came, and an angry Pikachu was waiting for us up ahead.

"The only thing left for us to do is stand and fight," confirmed Blaze, standing up and brushing off her cloak, "You got a water type?"

"I've got Herp and Derp."

"Well don't just stand there, pull one of them out!"

I swung my backpack off and slammed it on the ground. I dug around in the Pokéball pocket and pulled out the one holding one of the stepping stone Pokémon.

"Derp, I choose you!"

I pushed the button and threw the ball forward. Out popped Derp.

"Crap, Blaze I have no clue what moves Derp has."

"Check your Pokétasker you idiot. It has the Move Checker app pre-installed! Did you go through the tutorial at all or just start the game?"

"There was no tutorial when I started," I mumbled. I didn't want her to hear that because it would've revealed that I was playing in alpha phase. I didn't know what would've been more infuriating: for her to know I worked for Nintendo and got paid to do this crap or for her to know I worked for Nintendo and didn't have a clue how to "survive".

"Find them Zeus!" Blaze looked at me and smiled.

"What are you cheesing for?" I pressed, vexed, "That thing is after us!"

"But not on its own. Someone's giving him orders. I'm going to find out who."

"Yeah sure, leave _me_ to fight the angry Pokémon…"

"You wanna go looking for the big scary person hiding in the woods?"

"…And I'll be here when you get back."

"Thought so. Come on Inferno." Blaze took off running.

"Torchic!" Inferno skittered and flapped a bit to keep up with her.

"Go with them Neko."

"Skitty?" I looked back and she was giving me a worried look.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine here with Derp."

"Derp!"

"Skitty!" Neko took off running after Blaze and Inferno.

By now the Pikachu had found the both of us and was standing there smiling, waiting.

"Pikachu!"

"Bring it!"

"Derp!"

"Derp use water gun!" A spray of water came shooting out of Derp's mouth, dousing the Pikachu. It stood there shivering for a moment before using quick attack. It caught us both by surprise and sent my Derp flying off its feet. I told him to use water gun again and then slide, which was an attack I had never seen before. Basically, the Pokémon douses the area in front of it with water and goes sliding on that wet area, barreling into the opposing Pokémon. The attack worked well, knocking the Pikachu off his feet, but Derp didn't know how to stop himself. He didn't stop until he crashed into Pikachu who had crashed into a tree. He used a devastating close-range thunderbolt, making my Derp paralyzed and faint immediately.

"Derp, return!"

"Pikapika!"

"Oh I'm not through yet."

"Chu?"

"Come on out Rose!" I through the Pokéball into the air. Rose came out and spun elegantly to the ground.

"Roselia."

"Use magical leaf!"

"Roseeeelia!" Rose sent intoxicating-smelling leaves toward the Pikachu. It turned and tried to scrabble up the tree but was too slow. By the time the flurry of leaves had disappeared, the Pikachu looked like he had a million paper cuts.

"Pikachuuu…" It let go of the tree and went limp.

"Oh my god is he ok?" I screamed.

Rose went over to him, prodded him gently with her foot, and nodded.

"Ok, let's go find Blaze." We ran past him and further into the woods.

Suddenly we heard a scream. "Jaime! Heeeelp!"

"This way!" We ran toward the voice. I was taken aback when I saw Blaze hanging upside-down from a tree, her legs caught in a vine. Neko and Inferno were both tied to a tree. Inferno was out like a light and Neko was struggling.

"What the hell happened?"

"Rose-ro!"

"Ambush…" Blaze was breathing heavily, "Treeko… Ralts… Was not expecting them… Hand me… my file!" She pointed to a small metal nail file sticking out of the ground.

"Not if was an ambush then no, you weren't!" I picked up the file and handed it to her. She began filing at the vine. "This is what happens when you don't listen to me! Why can't you just take me seriously? Why…" My lecture was falling upon deaf ears. Blaze wasn't listening to me; she had stopped filing and was staring wide-eyed at something else.

"Blaze…" I said slowly, "What is it?"

"Behind you," she whispered harshly.

Rose and I turned slowly and gasped. Four silhouettes were standing there. Two of them looked like humans. Their arms were folded. The other two were Pokémon: Treeko and Ralts. Their eyes were glinting.

"Who are they?" I whispered, my voice cracking.

"Team Shadow…"

"Treeko! Ralts! Get them!"

"Oh shi—!" Blackout.

I woke up to bleariness. I looked up, and through the cracks of the leaves on the trees I could see the sky; and I swear I was also seeing thin black gridlines. I looked down and my heart skipped a beat. I was so high up. I could see gridlines on the ground too but that wasn't my concern. _How __did __I __get __up __so __high?_ I wriggled but couldn't move. I looked down at myself and saw that my arms were tied to my sides by vines. My legs were free, but I could do nothing but kick aimlessly at the air. I looked up and leaned my head back. The two vines holding me were tied to a tree limb. I sighed. _Just __great._ Just then I heard a creek. I looked up. I couldn't really tell without my glasses, but was the tree limb slanted? _Where __are __my __glasses?_ Snap! I suddenly sunk lower. I looked up again, my heart beating fast. There was a crack right in the middle of the branch. _Oh __no!__The __branch __is __breaking!_ Snap! I bounced and swung wildly. _I__ hit __the __ground__ I__'__m__ done __for!_ I tried calming myself. _You__'__ll__ respawn__ if __you __die.__You__'__ll __respawn__ if __you __die__…_ Crack! I suddenly began plummeting toward the earth. I closed my eyes and began screaming.

"Oh my god! Somebody help meee!"

"Ralts!"

I stopped falling. I opened my eyes and gasped. My head was just above the ground. I looked at myself. All in one peace, but I was glowing blue! I looked ahead of me. Standing there was a Pokémon: a Ralts. He was glowing too.

"Alright you saved her," came a familiar voice, "Now drop her on the ground!"

"Ralts."

I stopped glowing and hit the ground with a thud. "Oof!"

"Alright, I'm tired of your lies! I want my Poochyena back!"

"I'm telling you, I don't have her!"

I held my head up and looked back. Blaze was tied to a tree and one of the Team Shadow members had a saber to her neck! Her cloak was in a rumpled heap on the ground with our backpacks, and I could tell she was missing a gold sandal because the sun was only glinting off one. She was in her white pants, white socks, and a white tank top.

"I found feathers in her cloak," said the second Team Shadow member, joining the first one.

"Those are from my Torchic you dumbass."

"_Your_ Torchic… or somebody elses!"

"Definitely mine."

The two Team Shadow members weren't paying attention to me, but that Ralts was still a problem.

"Hey," I said, "You know there's still another one of us out there. I think you should go find them."

"Ral? Ralt, ralts!" It floated into the air and drifted away.

Not being able to stand up, and without trying to draw too much attention to myself, I scooted to the next tree over. There I found my Skitty and Blaze's Torchic. Neko was just hanging there, head hanging, looking utterly defeated. They had made it a point to tie up her paws and wrap up her tail with leaves. Inferno was still knocked out.

"Psst! Inferno. Hey Inferno! Wake up!" Nothing. "Neko, give Inferno a good whack with your tail."

Slap! "TORCHIC!"

"Shhhh!"

"Skitty!"

"Tor…"

"Shhhh!"

"Skittyyyy!"

"Inferno, do you realize you're tied up with vines?"

He looked down and suddenly became alarmed.

"Torchic tor!"

"Shut up and use ember on these vines!"

Inferno just stared at me. Neko hissed at him and whacked him with her tail again. He winced and obeyed. The vines snapped releasing the both of them. The Torchic then pecked at the vines on Neko's paws, releasing them, and pulled the leaves off her tail.

"C'mere Neko and get these vines off of me." She chewed on the vines holding me and they fell off. "Alright, good job both of you. Now have either of you seen Rose?" Neko shook her head no. Inferno looked confused.

"That's my Roselia, Inferno." He looked like he was thinking for a moment then shook his head 'no'. "Good, then that means she's still out there and hasn't been captured. Hopefully she'll find us, but for now we need an escape plan. The Pikachu and Ralts have both been taken care of, but I need you to distract the two Team Shadow members. I'll leave that to you Neko. Inferno, you'll free Blaze. Understood?"

"Torchic!"

"Skitty!"

"Good! Break!" They both looked at me, their heads cocked to the side.

"That means go." They both ran off. I grabbed at my belt for my Pokétasker, but it was gone. "Crap. That means they took that too." Without my Pokétasker, I couldn't log off. I'm sure there was a "force log" function, but I didn't know what that was at the time. I heard two people shouting, a squeal, and then running. I ran to the tree where Blaze was. She was on her knees rubbing her wrists. She looked up at me and smiled. I flushed with color.

"I guess you're not so useless after all." What a beat down. She grabbed her cloak and slid it on. She put on her backpack and threw me mine. We found our Pokétaskers inside. Blaze also found my glasses in her cloak. I put them on and went to my Pokétasker's Seeker. I typed in the name 'Roselia'. Nothing. Blaze was swiping her thumb madly across the screen of hers.

"Zeus, use thunderbolt!" We both looked up and leaped out the way. The bolt hit the tree behind us making it crash to the ground. That angry Pikachu had been storing a lot of energy in his cheeks.

"Ralts use psychic! Treeko use bullet seed!" Just then, my Seeker started beeping wildy.

"Rose! Use poison sting!" The Ralts fell to the ground, writhing wildly.

"Zeus use static on that Roselia!" My Roselia, who had been floating gently on the breeze, fell to the ground with an angry 'Ro-se-lia!' and jolted. At that moment Neko came crashing through the bushes and tackled Zeus to the ground.

"Treeko use bullet seed on that Skitty!"

"Tree…kokokokoko!"

"Skitty!" Neko cowered to the ground, covering her eyes with her ears.

"Inferno use ember!"

"Tooooorchic!"

"Treeko!" She went running up a tree and cowered in the leaves, shivering.

"Come out Cheesy!" I pressed the button and threw the Pokéball in the air.

"Let's go Halo!" Blaze did the same.

"Shedinja!"

"Rattatan!"

Cheesy dropped to the ground and Halo hovered expertly in the air.

"Give it up Team Shadow!" I demanded, "You're outnumbered and outmatched!"

"Team Shadow, take a look at this!" Blaze ran up to the two shadows holding up her Pokétasker. "I told you I didn't steal the Poochyena, which is true, but that doesn't mean I don't know who did."

"This looks like you," said one silhouetted voice.

"Different hair though," said another.

"She could've changed it," said the first voice.

"My hair is naturally black with red tips in this game." I nodded. I believed her. I found out that my hair was naturally pink in the game when I had taken a shower that morning.

"So this is a member of your team?" asked the second voice.

"No, an imposter: a member of Team Frost."

"Team Frost is a myth!" said the first voice in disbelief, "I say kill her now!"

"They are definitely not a myth!"

"If they aren't a myth, where are they now?"

"In Niatnoum Village. They practically make up half of it."

"We're going to Niatnoum then."

"Not yet, I promised Jaime that I'd take her to Egarim."

"Did you say Jaime?" Just then, one of the shadows stepped forward, out into the open. Right away it hit me who she was.

"Oh my god!" I squeaked, "Blaze, do you realize who this is?"

She peered at the person for a long time. "One of the people who tried to kill me?"

"This is Kayla Jefferson!" I ran to hug her. She returned the hug.

"I thought you looked familiar. Nice to see you again."

"Don't forget me." The second shadow stepped out into the open.

"Naomi Odokemono!" I hugged her next.

"I knew it was you all along."

"No you didn't."

"Y-you don't know that," she stuttered.

"What about me?" asked Blaze, leaning against a tree, arms crossed.

"Oh," said Kayla, her arms wide open, "You want hug too?"

"No I don't want a hug! You were holding a knife to my neck!"

"I'm sorry. We never actually meant to hurt you."

"We didn't?" asked Naomi is disbelief, "Then what was the point?"

"I just want my Fluffy back…"

I put my hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll help you get her back. But first I must complete my mission."

"What mission?" asked Naomi.

"Why don't we talk about it over sandwiches?" asked Kayla, "We can catch up! Dinner picnic by the lake anyone?"

Herp and Derp were swimming leisurely in the lake. Neko, Inferno, Zeus, Ralts, Treeko, Cheesy, Rose, and Halo were all involved in a very large game of freeze tag. Blaze, Naomi, Kayla and I were sitting on a blue and white picnic blanket eating tasty tuna sandwiches that had been retrieved from a nicely woven picnic basket. I was able to take in the scene. A beautiful lake set against the background of the setting sun. Many trainers, families, loners, and Pokémon were picnicking and swimming in the lake surrounded by wildflowers and lush grass. In the distance, a herd of wild Ponytas could be seen, led by a stately looking Rapidash. I was entranced, wishing I could join them. I don't know how my attention could've possibly been drawn from them, but I found myself looking at Team Shadow and their clothing:

Kayla had shoulder length black hair with natural brown streaks and brown skin. She had also made herself taller. I at least figured she hadn't grown much since high school. She wore a large white bow in her hair and a dark navy blue tube top. The top and bottom ended in a point, exposing much of her stomach and back. The straps and top edge of the shirt were black, forming a W on the shirt. The bottom point of the tube top met the point that indicated the top of her Capris. The top edge of the Capri pants was also black but didn't visibly seem to form any letter. The pants were a lighter, more rustic blue. She wore navy blue shoes with black iron bracing for support when running. She wore socks which reached over her shoes and up her pants. I figured they went to her knees. She liked knee socks when we were younger. She wore her Pokétasker around her wrist: easy to access.

Naomi had long, curly, ginger hair which covered her eyes: her most Asian looking feature. Her hair was stark contrast to her milk-white skin. Her shirt matched Kayla's except it was long sleeved and a full shirt. The parts that were exposed on Kayla's tube top were covered by black cotton. The sleeves were white. She wore a rustic blue skirt that had a black top edge but did not have a point. Under the skirt she wore white leggings and had matching shoes with Kayla in boot form. She kept her Pokétasker strapped around her like a purse.

"So you say Julia is stuck in the Desert of Death? Like glitched?" Kayla seemed genuinely worried.

"Who _cares_?" breathed Naomi, "None of us _really_ care about her."

"I care," squeaked Kayla.

"I care a lot…" I breathed.

"What we _want_ to know is if you and Blaze finally…"

"NO!" she shouted right away. A family nearby looked over our way. I sat there with half a sandwich halfway in my mouth. Naomi and Kayla both broke out into giggles.

"You know that's why we didn't recognize you," said Kayla in a fit of giggles.

"Yeah, you surely didn't look like a girl. We thought you were a transvestite!"

"And we never thought you'd _actually_ get the girl Jaime." I was solemnly chewing on my sandwich. Blaze was rolling her eyes.

"Oh shut up," she said in a high-pitched, prissy voice. They both stopped laughing, surprised, and then broke out into giggles again. Blaze stood up. "I guess we'll go into town and spend the night."

"Aw, leaving so soon?" Naomi actually seemed genuinely dejected.

"Yeah, we were only kidding."

"I know… But we must be going."

"Naomi and I are going to travel through the night. We're going to regroup at our lair, then we'll be waiting for you in Niatnoum. Meet us there after you come from the Desert of Death."

"Don't die," added Naomi.

"Alright then," I said, "We'll see you then."

We waved goodbye and watched as Team Shadow dipped back into the shadows of the woods. We returned our Pokémon, leaving only Neko and Inferno out, and headed into the city of Atilol.

"Why are we running?"

"Didn't you hear those police? They clearly said 'Arrest her! Or him! No that's a her!'"

"I heard that but _why_ are we running? Didn't you steal from an NPC shop?"

"Yes!"

"Those were definitely _real__player_ police!"

"They said I kidnapped an Evee!"

"Skitty skitty!"

"Tooooooorchiiiiiiiic!"

"Did you?"

"I steal food, I still money, and occasionally I steal actual items, but I don't steal Pokémon!"

We veered to the left and ended up in an alley.

"We… have to change your look…" I said panting.

"There's no way… I'm wearing Lolita…"

"Aristocrat?"

Blaze growled. "We'll see."

We stood there panting, trying to catch our breath. The first thing we saw when we entered the city was the lights. They were beautiful, reminded me of Las Vegas or Tokyo. The streets were crowded with the night life: Gothic, Casual, and Sweet Lolitas alike. The second thing we saw however wasn't so nice. The Atilol police, dressed like knights, fixed their gaze on Blaze.

'That's the one! That's the one who kidnapped the Evee!'

'It's not me!' she answered back, 'Different hair!'

'Arrest her! Or him! No, that's a her!'

'Oh crap. Those aren't NPCs. Run!'

"We have to find a hotel," I said finally, coming back to reality.

"One manned by an NPC. They're too stupid to think I'm the same person as the imposter."

I bent over, coughing up phlegm and hitting my chest. "Isn't that a good thing?"

Blaze took a moment to answer. "Yeeeeaaaah…"

We walked into first hotel we found that was manned by an NPC. Sadly, it had to be a pink painted palace-like place called Cupcake Sublime. It was manned by a high-pitched voiced, overly joyous Sweet Lolita NPC named Victoria. While she was briefing us about the cost of rooms, Blaze nudged me.

"Hey, she's scarier than _you_."

"I'm not like that anymore."

"I beg to differ."

"So, what will be tonight cuties? Two rooms, one room with two beds, or one bedroom with _one_ bed?" She winked after that last one.

"One bedroom, two beds," Blaze responded grudgingly. She looked at me.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to pay the nice lady?"

"I thought you were paying! I have no money!"

Blaze started cursing under her breath as she reached into her cloak sleeve and pulled out a sack of money. She took out enough for the night and slid it across the counter to the NPC.

"Woah!" she said taking the money, "That's quite a big sack of money you've got there!" She froze suddenly and her neck twitched.

"I think she's glitching," I whispered under my breath.

"That's quite a big sack… you've got there!" She put the money in the register and handed Blaze the keys. Room 301. We nodded are thanks and walked up the stairs to the rooms. "Enjoy you two!" she called after us, "Don't make too much noise oki?"

Blaze glared at me as she unlocked the room door.

"What?" I asked, eyes wide, "I think it's great this city embraces OHMIGOSH THE ROOM IS YELLOW!"

"Wonderful…"

The room was bathed in yellow with white curtains. There were Skitty and Delcatty decals on the walls. The bed frames were tan and the beds had white sheets with yellow blankets and purple flowers. There was a flat screen TV on the wall. The bathroom had yellow tile on the floor and walls, and the sinks were yellow too. The bedroom was fine, but the bathroom was a bit sickening to me. Blaze was scowling. I started searching through my backpack. Neko climbed onto my bed and wiggled under the blanket.

"I have no pajamas," I stated, although I already knew this fact.

"Neither do I."

"I guess we'll sleep in our clothes then." I sniffed under my arms. "I need a shower."

"So do I."

"You wanna go first?"

Blaze plopped onto the bed and put her arms behind her bed. "Nah, I'll take it in the morning." Inferno climbed out of her cloak, shaking his head.

"You don't want to check the bed?" I asked, grabbing Neko by the tail and pulling her from under the covers.

"For what?" Blaze sat up. "It's a game! Are there really germs in a _game_?"

"There might be. The game goes into open beta tomorrow," I said, looking at my Pokétasker. I realized there was a texting feature and I had just received one. Apparently it was game-wide, because Blaze was reading it too.

"That's tomorrow," she said finally, "For now, if there are germs, the hotel rooms are clean."

I grunted and headed into the bathroom, grabbing a towel from out of the closet. My Skitty sat on the bed and began grooming herself. "You better shower tomorrow morning because you smell like running."

"Oh and how does running smell?" Inferno covered his beak with a wing.

I pointed to him. "Stinky."

"You've been in there for a while."

"I'm fine."

"You haven't eaten."

"Yeah I have."

"In game doesn't count."

I was sitting on a park bench eating eel sushi. Josh was sitting next to me.

"Why do you insist on hanging out with me?" I asked, popping another piece of sushi into my mouth. I still wasn't used to chopsticks so I had resorted to picking food up and quickly throwing it in my mouth.

"I worry about you," Josh said finally, "You're mind has only been on this girl and you have been in the game for days."

"Only two."

"Two days straight. Don't you think you need a break?"

I had to admit, I felt a bit drained. I wasn't going to let Josh know this though. "I'm fine," I said around a ball of rice, "I feel great." Josh was staring at me.

"You're a bad liar Jaime. Always have been." When he said that it clicked. His face, his voice, the fact he wore three shirts at once.

"Joshua Tempest! We went to high school together!"

He was shaking his head. "You're a terrible friend. You used to sit next to me almost every day at lunch and you didn't remember me?"

"What can I say?" I asked chewing, "I'm bad at remembering people."

"You remembered Julia right away, by name."

"She's…" I grunted, "…Different."

"Mmhmmm…"

I stood up and handed Josh my empty container. "I'm going back to Virtuous."

"Look, I didn't come here just to _annoy_ you."

"I'm not annoyed."

"You're acting like it. Anyway, I actually have some things about the game to tell you. As you know, the NPCs use an older version of the Sentient AI programming: Sentient 2.0. It makes them a bit…"

"Stupid?"

"…Dense. Yes. The Pokémon themselves however have very advanced programming: Sentient 4.0. It almost makes them seem… real."

"Right. What's your point?"

"To make sure the Pokémon are as real as possible, they actually have imprints from the brains of animals and humans."

"That's possible? That's _legal_?"

"Yes and… yes. But there's a catch to this. All the Pokémon also have some of these people's and animals' memories."

"That's not good! Does the public know?"

"No, that's my point. The memories are minimal, and it's still programming. Pokémon are 'pure' creatures. They're supposed to be relatively nice, depending on the species and their situation, and they're not programmed to kill at all, not even seriously injure. The only thing I want to say to you is be on the lookout. If you see any acting out of the norm, we need to know."

I nodded. "Thanks for the info. Can I go now?"

Josh looked sad. "Yeah sure Jaime. Don't overwork yourself."

"I don't," I said, walking away, "I do the minimum, nothing more."

"Oh Jaime!" Josh called after me. I didn't slow down. "The Pokémon respawn system hasn't been implemented yet! Your Pokémon dies, they're gone!"

I stopped for a moment. Up until now, the Desert of Death hadn't scared me. But I was now thinking about Neko. She wasn't real, but she sure seemed like it, she even had the memories and personality of a real person or animal. If I were to die in the desert, I would respawn, but if she died… I refused to think about it. I hurried back to Virtuous Games.

I opened my eyes and the light that hit them made me close them again. "God why is it so bright!" I looked over at Blaze. Her head was under her pillow and she was snoring loudly. Her Torchic was asleep on top of the pillow. I reached over with my leg and kicked her. She shot up.

"Torchiiiic!" There was a thud as he hit the floor.

"Oh my god Inferno!" Blaze picked him up and began stroking his head furiously, holding him like a baby. "Are you alright?"

"Torchic…"

"What was that for Jaime?"

I didn't answer right away. Actually I didn't answer at all. I watched Neko nibble at the pushpins in her tail. I reached down, took a can of food out my backpack, and put it on the floor for her. She hopped down and began eating. Inferno began whining. Blaze took out some seed and began feeding him.

"Do you work at all?" I asked.

"Do you?"

"I was just wondering if you have a life outside this game."

"Do you?"

I watched Neko eat for a while. "What are we going to do today?"

"I guess look for something else to wear. We can get started after I shower."

When Blaze came out, she was wearing her white tank top, pants, and gold sandals without the socks. She dropped the socks and her cloak in the bin to be washed. I was wearing my original pink and black outfit. I dropped the Team Arrow clothes she had given me in the same bin. I helped her flatten her hair against her head and I let my own hair down. We were trying to look as little like ourselves as possible. We both walked to the door. Neko and Inferno came running after us.

"Stay here," I said to Neko, "It's the first day of open beta. It's crowded and it'll be hard to keep up with you. Plus, I need someone to guard my backpack."

"You stay too Inferno."

They both looked sad, like they were going to be bored. I walked back in the room, grabbed the remote to the TV, and turned it on. I handed the remote to Neko. Inferno was looking over her shoulder.

"Here," I said, "These buttons adjust the volume, these change the channel, and this is for the power. Don't fight over the remote."

"And don't order pay-per-view," added Blaze sternly, "Or order room service."

"Got all that?" I asked. They both nodded. "Great, have fun you two! We won't be long too long I don't think."

When we started walking down the sidewalk, we immediately noticed a pattern we couldn't see at night. On one side of the street were shops painted pastel pinks, yellows, and baby blues. They seemed tailored to Sweet Lolita and variations of it. On the other side were shops painted black, red, and shades of gray. They seemed tailored to Casual and Gothic Lolita and variations of it. People seemed to stay to their side, but there were also plenty crossing the street, avoiding bikes and motorcycles and buses. Both the motorcycles and buses ran on clean vegetable oil. I envied those with motorcycles.

"Hey look at that store." Blaze caught me by surprise. I stopped and looked. This store wasn't painted at all. It was white. The sign on it read: KAULITZ KOUTURE.

"Hey," I said, "That woman on the picture in the window looks familiar." In the large picture was a woman wearing Wa Lolita. It was signed by her: Donna Kaulitz.

"She does look familiar," agreed Blaze.

"Donna Kaulitz," I read aloud, "That can't be our Donna."

"If that's our Donna, then that means…" We looked at each other.

"She actually married Tom Kaulitz?" We said it at the same time.

We walked into the store. I was amazed at the variety of Lolita. There was everything from Sweet to Gothic to Wa to Aristocratic. There were even some more Americanized styles such as Country Lolita. Sitting at the semicircle counter, feet on top, filing her nails was Donna Kaulitz herself. She was wearing a white kimono with black trimming around the sleeves and bottom. Her sash was red. She had red slippers on her feet with smiley faces with vampire teeth sewn on in black. An Evee was sitting on the counter next to her, tail swishing. Sitting on the counter behind her was a tall, dark, and muscular man in a black long sleeve shirt and black jeans with black boots. His arms were crossed and he was giving us the death stare.

"Don't scare the customers," said Donna, not looking up.

"Snorlax doesn't scare me," said Blaze smiling. The death looked intensified. I waved meekly. "Dominick Johnson; long time no see."

"Snoooooor…" the droning came from somewhere in the back of the store.

"Sup," said Dominick.

"I see you made yourself smaller for the game," I said.

"No he actually looks like that in real life…" She suddenly stopped filing and looked up.

"Hi Donna!" I said happily.

"You!" She stood up and began backing towards Dominick.

"You remember me!"

"Of course I remember you! I remember the both of you! Jaime Smith and Blaze Bryant! I had to deal with the both of you my last two years of high school!"

I looked at Blaze. "Why do I feel like none of my friends actually ever liked me?" She just stared at me.

"Should I throw them both out?" asked Dominick. He began staring at me. His death look was countered by my huge smile.

"No," said Donna, "Customers are customers. Welcome to Kaulitz Kouture!"

"Evee!"

"So," said Blaze, "You actually married Tom Kaulitz?"

"Of course!"

"I never thought I'd see the day…" I whispered.

"You know what, F you both! You have no faith in me!" Dominick just stared at us.

"He your body guard?" asked Blaze.

"Of course!"

"Why are you looking at us like you never met us before?" I asked. "We're your friends remember?" He returned my question with a stare.

"So what brings you to my humble shop?"

I looked around. It sure didn't seem humble. The store was divided into three different sections: a Sweet Lolita section on the left, a Gothic Lolita section on the right, and a well-stocked Casual Lolita section in the middle. All the clothes looked luxurious and expensive. They all looked the same size too.

"You brought us to your shop," I said finally, barely paying attention to her.

"Oh really? I thought you came here looking for something to wear to the gala tonight."

"There's a gala tonight?" I asked my curiosity peaked.

"Didn't she _just_ say that?" asked Blaze.

I ignored her. "Where is it being held?"

"En El Casino de Trick," answered Donna.

"Trick Casino?" I asked.

"Or Casino of the Trick," responded Dominick.

"So there are sluts there?" asked Blaze. Her voice went up a beat, as if she was happy.

"I think they call it that because of the Tricksters that are there," said Donna.

"Tricksters? A new type of Pokémon?" I asked.

"You'll see when you get there."

"No we won't," said Blaze, her voice back down to its deep roughness, "We're leaving today." I looked down, dejected.

"Oh, then you'll miss the rave tomorrow night."

"Rave?"

"Yup. It's too bad. LoliTA will be there…"

Blaze and I looked at each other. "LoliTA?"

"Yup. Live," said Dominick smiling.

"Live!"

"You need tickets for the rave," said Donna.

"Not cheap tickets…" sighed Dominick.

"So, how about those outfits?" asked Donna, walking from behind the counter.

"I don't have much money on me," said Blaze.

"I don't have _any_ money on me," I said.

"No problem, you can check on your Pokétaskers." She reached over the counter and brought up a couple of microchips that reminded me of SD Cards. "These are new apps all prominent business owners have been told to give their customers who don't have them. It's the Bank Balance app. You can also set up a virtual currency exchange…"

I slid the chip into my Pokétasker. There was a flash from inside and when I looked at the slot that I put it in it was empty again. My 'tasker flickered on and a message popped up saying that a new app was being installed. When it was installed, it asked me if I wanted to use it. I hit YES. I wasn't expecting to see anything in my account, I had never put any money in it, but when I saw my balance I hiccupped.

"You ok?" asked Blaze, not looking up from her 'tasker. Its sound was on and I could hear the bleep-blooping noises it was making.

"Hey Blaze. What's the max amount of money you can have in your account?"

"Nine hundred ninety-nine million, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine," she answered me.

"In numbers," said Dominick, "999…999…999."

I guffawed. Looking at my app I saw that my account was full. I realized that I must have had a never-ending bank supply: a perk of being the Grand Champion. I learned later that all of the Elite Four and I had this privilege as well as some of the other Nintendo employees. I finished setting up my overly-secure virtual currency account just as Blaze was finishing up hers.

"How much money you got?" she asked, walking over to me.

"Enough," I answered, quickly turning off my 'tasker and clicking it onto my belt, "I got it today. Whatever you like."

"In that case," said Donna, "I'd like to show you our lovely new dress-suit set. It just arrived today. Quite expensive." She took a dress off the rack, grabbed me by the arm, and led me away to a dressing room. Dominick came from behind the counter, grabbed a suit, and grabbed Blaze's arm. She kicked him. Though it had no effect on him, he released her. She snatched the suit out of his hand.

"I think I can dress myself thanks."

Inside my dressing room, Donna was hastily sliding on the dress she had grabbed. After she finally got it on, I looked at myself and scowled. "It's way too big."

"Just give it a moment," said Donna who was standing behind me smiling. Magically, before my eyes, the dress began to shrink. The skirt shortened, right to my ankles. The body of the dress itself formed to my body. Soon it fit me perfectly.

"Amazing!" I breathed, "Why don't all the clothes do that?"

"Most people can't afford the cost of the store installment that does it. In the end though, it's cheaper than making different sizes."

I was staring at the dress. It was a cream color polyester dress with short puffy sleeves. The skirt had sheer white silk draped over it and a dark chocolate brown sash tied around the waste. Donna left the dressing room and came back with cream Mary Jane's with black bows which I loved. She also gave me chocolate brown polyester gloves that went to my elbows and had black bows on them. Lastly she strung a chocolate pearl choker around my neck. "I look like a Peppermint Patty," I said when my ensemble was complete.

"It's called the Peppermint Patty dress." She ran he fingers through my very pink hair. "We've got to do something about your hair," she said at last. She grabbed my arm, led me out of the dressing room, and into a back room. I was a little startled by the huge Snorlax sitting in a back corner looking at the pictures in a magazine. He looked up and smiled. It had the scent of a hair salon but there was only one seat with a contraption that reminded me of the one in Shampoodle from Animal Crossing. I stood there reminiscing. I loved that game. "C'mon sit down!" Donna exclaimed, pushing me into the chair, "We don't have all afternoon!" She went to the back of the machine, typed something in, lowered the mouth of the contraption over my head, and pushed a button. It slammed down on my head. It was quite tight. I didn't know exactly what was going on inside, but I could tell it was doing my hair rapid-fire.

When it released my head Donna held a mirror in front of me. My hair was brown and done in many ringlets. There were large black bows on my front ringlets, one on each side of my head. I smiled. I really liked it. We left the salon back into the store where Blaze was waiting and Dominick was cutting the tips off of her slicked back hair. I smiled: she looked very handsome. She was wearing a dark chocolate brown tailcoat with matching pants and dress shoes and a cream blouse with a poufy collar in the front and frilled cuffs. Dominick handed her a pair of cream gloves and a dark chocolate brown mini top hat and she put them on. When she saw me looking she grunted.

"How adorable!" exclaimed Donna, "Such a cute couple!"

I turned to face her, "We're not a couple." Donna pointed behind me and I turned around to look. Blaze was down on one knee holding her hand up to me. She was smiling but her teeth were gritted, like she really wasn't happy to be doing this.

"Every princess needs a prince," I said quietly.

"When I find one I'll let you know," Blaze growled.

"Blaze!" Donna shouted from behind me.

She exhaled deeply. "I'm looking at one," she said, still growling but with less hostility.

"Why now?" I asked smiling. She clearly wasn't enjoying this and I clearly was.

"I need you…" I couldn't hear the rest.

"What?" I asked in a sweet tone.

"I need you to buy my ticket to the LoliTA concert."

"Oh? Why can't you just steal the money for it?"

"Not in this town. I'm a wanted woman."

"So you decide to humor me for one night. How cute. I'll accept your offer." I slid my hand into hers and she stood up. She hugged me close to her. It was a cold hug, but a hug all the same.

"Don't forget the outfits for the rave!" said Donna, holding up two outfits. A tiered black dress with neon lights sewed into the each tier's hem for me, and a black tube top with black pants with neon lights sewed into the legs' hem for Blaze. I nodded. Donna put the clothes in the bag and I paid. 10,000 for everything but that was no problem for me. I held the bag in one hand and put my other around Blaze's arm.

"Bye guys!" called Donna as we left the shop.

"Bye!" I called looking back.

"Cya," called Blaze. She still seemed angry.

"Bye," called Dominick.

As we walked down the street people stared at us, admiring our outfits. We had dropped our rave clothes off at the hotel and were now headed to the Casino. Neko and Inferno were following in behind us. Neko was wearing a black collar with a large black bow on the side and Inferno was wearing a black top hat that was a bit too big for him.

As we were walking we passed by a shop whose front was entirely made of glass. Looking inside I saw one side was covered with paintings: paintings on the walls, on easels, on the floor. The other side had tables and shelves filled with sculpture. Inside was a girl with orange dreads who was painting and an Infernape that seemed to be staring at a kiln. She didn't seem to notice us and we just walked passed. I caught a glimpse of the name of the shop though: A Little Piece of Heaven's. I turned back around. We got the curb before I heard someone calling behind us.

"Hey! Hey you!"

"Just ignore them," said Blaze.

"You, with the Peppermint Patty!" The stoplight was red and we couldn't cross the street, and the unknown behind us wasn't letting up. "Hey!" We both jumped and turned around. The person calling us was now right behind us. She was smiling. It was the girl with orange dreads. She also had pretty choco-brown skin and shiny white teeth. She wore a dingy white t-shirt that was covered in paint and khaki pants. She had bare feet which were also covered in paint. Except for her clothing, she was clean and well put together. "You _must_ let me paint you!" she said, "And I'm sure my Infernape would just _love_ to sculpt your Pokémon!"

"Your Infernape sculpts?" I asked, amazed.

"We really don't have time," said Blaze, "We're trying to get to the gala."

"It won't take long I promise," she said, grabbing one of our hands in each of hers and heading back to her shop.

"Can we move now?" I asked out the side of my mouth.

"Just a little longer."

Heaven, or Little Wolf as she preferred to be called, was sketching Blaze and I on a large canvas. Her Infernape, Burning Coals, was sketching us on a drawing pad. I wasn't sure how either one looked, but I was feeling confident. After the sketching was done, Little Wolf took us back to her store and allowed us to have a look around.

"You painted all these?" I asked in wonderment.

"Yes. Most of them were uploaded from DA. Those are the ones I actually think look good."

"Were you here during closed beta?" asked Blaze.

"Yeah, I was one of the first ones to test out the paints. They're great but they're not perfect. They need a little work to be like the real thing…"

While Blaze and Little Wolf talked, I was walking around the store. I watched Burning Coals prepare the clay to sculpt for a moment, then walked near the front counter. On it, I saw an armband. It was dark blue with the same black W symbol stitched on as on Kayla and Naomi's clothing.

"You're a member of Team Shadow," I said.

Little Wolf cleared her throat and quickly walked to the counter and put the wristband behind it. "I rather not talk about it," she said, "You can pick up your artwork tomorrow, or whenever you're ready." I could tell that this was our invitation to leave so we did.

"What you scare her for?"

"I wasn't trying to. Maybe she doesn't know we're friends with Team Shadow. Do you think she knows we're Team Arrow?"

"That _I__'__m_ Team Arrow. Dunno."

"Are we heading to Trick Casino now?"

"Soon, I've got to do something first."

"What?"

"If you must know, I scheduled a gym battle today."

It was just then that it hit me. _This__is__a__Pokémon__game,__we__have__gyms!_ "How many badges do you have Blaze?"

"I have Enost's, Aval's, Egarim's, and Ajnin Iarumas's. So that's four?"

_She__'__s __halfway__ there. __She__'__ll __be __ready __to __challenge __me __soon._

"How many do you have?"

I pretended to ignore her. I had none… not that I needed any. I stayed in the gym's waiting room. If I had gone in with Blaze, I would've been obliged to fight all the gym leader's apprentices (though they were probably NPCs) with her. The people in the waiting room stared at me. While they were in jeans and t-shirts, I was dressed in the very expensive Peppermint Patty dress.

"We're headed to the gala tonight," I said to break the silence. For some, understanding came to their faces. Others just giggled. When Blaze came into the waiting room to get me, some of those giggles broke into full-blown laughs. "Did you get it?" I asked her. She smiled and I jumped up clapping. "Congratulations!" So we headed to the gala and…**"**

**"****Booooooriiiiiing!****"**

** "Hey!"**

** "We don't want to hear about a stupid gala. We want to hear about the rave!"**

** "Is it true that you almost got…?"**

** "Shhh don't spoil it!"**

** "I want to hear about the gala."**

** "No you don't."**

** "Do you guys at least want to hear about the new Pokémon at the casino?"**

** "Fiiiine. But then skip to the rave."**

**"****Good.****Now****like****I****was****saying**we headed to the gala at the Trick Casino. When we arrived we were greeted at the door by who I thought were people. One was female. She had pale gray skin and was wearing a black jumper skirt with puffy sleeves and white trim. The skirt was short and ruffly with a white petticoat underneath. A suit of cards was crocheted around the bottom of it. She wore bright red lipstick and had red painted nails. Her shoes were black and plain but the tips of them were long and curled. Her hair was jet black in two large ringlets on each side of her head.

The male also had pale gray skin. He wore a bright red tailcoat with a white dress shirt underneath. The shirt was longer than the front of the tailcoat and came from under it. A suit of cards was crocheted on it. His shoes were the same as the female's but as red as his coat. He wore black lipstick and had black painted nails. His hair was black, and long down his back.

The thing that made me realize they weren't very made up humans was their pointy, elfin ears. I smiled and pulled out my Pokétasker and went to the Pokédex.

_"__Trickster,__ the __card __dealing __Pokémon.__ Tricksters __are__ surprisingly __independent__ and__ rather __live__ beside __humans __as __their __equals __and __companions __rather __than __pets __or __battle __partners.__Though__ they __can__'__t __say __much, __Tricksters __are __masters__ of __languages __and __can __write __in __many.__ They __are __rarely __found__ in __rural __areas.__ Tricksters __are __known __for __their __loud__ Lolita-like __style __and__ contrary __to __popular__ belief, __their __lip__ and __nail __color__ are __natural.__"_

"Seriously?"

"I don't believe that," said Blaze.

"Stricktertrick." I jumped, startled by the slightly mechanical voice of the male Trickster. I looked up and smiled, realizing we had been standing in the doorway the whole time.

"Sorry," I said.

"Isterkit," answered the female, smiling widely showing me a row of pointy little teeth. In we walked, my hand around her arm… **and**** she ****wanted**** me ****to ****skip ****this ****part ****so ****I**** will.****"**

** "At least tell us how it went."**

** "It was great, there was wine and tasty finger foods and Blaze and I danced half the night away."**

** "Only half?"**

** "Yeah, she ignored me the other half, but I guess it still counted. Oh, we also won the outfit contest. We got 3000. I gave it all to Blaze."**

** "On to the rave?"**

**"****On**** to ****the ****rave. **We went back to the casino the next night, tickets in hand, except we went in through the basement door. It really was a basement, but it was a packed one. We walked into a sea of people dancing to booming techno music, keilodovision on a large screen, and strobe lights that hurt my eyes at first. Some people were making out. Others… I think they were doing something else. If drugs existed in the game I think people would've been doing them. Blaze and I both had our Pokémon with us, in their balls, just in case a fight broke out. Blaze immediately left me, drawn to something, or someone. I was there fending for myself. I danced solo, careful not to make eye contact with anyone as Kayla had instructed me never to do. I recognized Skrillex and Tïesto and Foggy but there were a bunch of artists I had never heard of before. There were also live DJs. After what seemed like an hour, an emcee came on the mic.

"It's _finally_ time for who everyone has been waiting for!" That voice sounded familiar. I stood on a table and saw that it was Little Wolf. She was emceeing! "Give it up for LOLITA!" People starting screaming and rushing forward.

"HEY! BACK UP AND SHUT UP!" Dominick's voice boomed over the sound of screaming fans.

"He's a bouncer too?"

"HEY YOU! GET OFF THE TABLE!" I know he couldn't tell who I was, and it probably wouldn't matter anyway, so I timidly got off the table. I bobbed and weaved my way to the front and watched LoliTA, the most famous virtual band in the world, come on stage.

Loli, the singer and keyboarder of the group, is a sweet Lolita whose favorite color is pastel pink and loves jumper skirts. She is almost always happy and seems like an extreme pacifist, doing anything she can to keep the peace between T and their fans.

T, which stands for Terry, is the electric violinist and the "screamer" of the group. She's a hothead who picks a fight with anyone over the smallest things. She is a Gothic Lolita who often switches between Wa and Punk Goth.

A, which stands for Annabella, is the DJ of the group. She is a quiet Casual Lolita who has a unique blue jean Lolita style. She doesn't talk much and doesn't get into the spats between Loli and T or the fans.

When the group starting playing, the crowd went wild, and so did I. I screamed and jumped and waved my arms like a crazy person. They sang and played their best hits: We are TA Not Tah, Mixing Pixels, Glitched, and Being Sentient. Then the emcee announced something unbelievable.

"Now we will have one _very_ lucky member from the audience sing a duet with LoliTA themselves!"

I was very close to the stage and reached my hand toward Loli. She grabbed it and pulled me on stage.

"And what is your name?" asked Little Wolf, holding the mic to my mouth and acting as if she hadn't met me yesterday.

"J-J-Jaime," I stammered, "Jaime Smith."

"Jaime Smith hm? What song would you like to sing with LoliTA Jaime Smith?"

"W-Well… actually, I don't sing much. Not that I can't but…" I looked around the room. They had grown silent and were eyeing me as if to ask, _"__If__you__don__'__t__sing__why__'__d__you__get__up__there?__"_ I looked around stage. Loli was giving me an encouraging smile. A was thumbing through a magazine that was set on her turntable. T was eyeing me intently waiting to see what I was going to say. She looked as if she'd pounce on me any moment.

"…Not that I can't but, I do play the electric violin!" The crowd gasped. I don't know if it was a good gasp or a bad one, but I figured it was bad because almost immediately Loli whispered in my ear,

"Ms. Smith, I'm not sure that's a good idea…"

T however had other plans. "No, no Loli, it's fine." She walked up to me giving me a poisonous smile and handed me her black electric violin. I was amazed at its shininess, its silver strings, and the white ivory bow with a color-changing laser on the tip.

"What song will you be playing with Loli and A?" Little Wolf asked.

"Mixing Pixels," I answered, a goofy smile plastered across my face.

"Mi~xing~ Pi~xels~!" shouted Little Wolf. She sounded more like a game show host then an emcee at a rave.

The intro for the song began. Mixing Pixels is basically a call and response song. I had played it with the CD a million times. The DJ plays a beat and the violinist mimics it as best as they can. There is a lighthearted keyboard tune that is plinked out in the background. That's pretty much how the song goes except for a much anticipated violin solo.

"Let me have the solo." This is what T whispered to me right before the song began. It seemed more like a threat than a request.

The call and response was simple, but enthralling. I answered the DJs beats and scratching all the way to the middle of the song where the solo began. T had walked up to me to receive her violin, but my eyes were closed so I wouldn't get stage fright. In my excitement I played right through the solo, straight to the end. As soon as the song ended my eyes popped open and I realized my mistake. T was seething. My eyes immediately began scanning the room, searching for a way out. That's when I saw her…

Among the people wearing black and neon outfits she was wearing a sky blue jumpsuit and white sneakers, which contrasted with her dark skin. Her black hair was in a neat afro which framed her head. On her jumpsuit was a large letter F in blue. She could tell I was looking at her and smiled, then mouthed the words, "You're in for it." I turned around to see T's fist coming for my face. I braced myself for impact but she didn't punch me. She opened her hand and lying inside was a Great Ball.

"Jaime Smith I challenge you to a three-on-three Pokémon battle! No items, no rules."

"Three-on-three?" asked A, looking up from the magazine she had just returned to.

"Of course you two are going to back me," T growled, looking from one to the other.

"We are?" answered both Loli and A. A seemed surprised and Loli sounded alarmed.

My mind started wheeling. _Herp,__ Derp, __and __Cheesy __aren__'__t __strong __enough __for __a __battle __with __LoliTA.__ If __I__ pulled__ out __my __Pokétasker __and __changed __their __levels __now__ someone__ is __bound __to __notice.__That __means __I__ only__ have __Neko __and__ Rose__ to __work __with. __Where __am __I__ going __to __get__ the __third __Pokémon __from?_

"Blaze!" I squeaked. I looked around the room and saw her in the back standing near the door. "Please help!"

The murmuring in the room died down when she spoke. "Oh no! If you think I'm going to help you pick a fight with LoliTA you're mistaken."

"I didn't pick a fight…" I stopped when T half barked, half hissed at me. "Please… help…" The crowd parted so Blaze could make her way to the stage.

"Fine. I'll help you," she stepped on stage. "You know you keep saying you've changed I don't see it yet. You still seem like the same whiney child." She looked at the group. "Nothing personal guys, just business."

"Oh not at all!" said Loli cheerfully.

"It's not like we'll ever see you again after this," droned A.

"And we're going to whip your asses anyway so all will be well," said T, cackling madly.

"To the arena!" shouted Little Wolf in the mic and we all filed out.

"Go Neko! Go Rose!"

"Skitty!"

"Roselia!"

"Come on out Inferno!"

"Torchic!"

"Go Joker!"

"Go Pocky!"

"Go Harlequin!"

"Trickster!"

"Medicham!"

"Reterick!"

While we stood there waiting for the battle to begin I was able to get a look at the opposing Pokémon. T and A both had Tricksters: T a female named Harlequin and A a male named Joker. Loli had a very calm looking Medicham. Why she named her Pocky I don't know, but it wasn't any of my business either.

A bell sounded for the battle to begin. As the person who was challenged I was able to make the first move. "Neko use scratch on Harlequin!"

"Harlequin use cut on that Skitty!" As the two Pokémon ran toward each other, Harlequin pulled a card out of her dress sleeve. It didn't look menacing at first but as the two Pokémon met the Trickster swiped the edge across Neko's face. She screamed and swiped, but the blow was badly aimed and Harlequin was able to dodge it.

"Inferno use ember on that Medicham!" The little Torchic charged forward.

Pocky just stood there a moment then Loli said, "Use high-jump kick!" and she sprang into the air. The Torchic just stared as she went up and then shot fire out of his beak as she came down. He didn't miss, but neither did she and she dealt a devastating blow to Inferno. The both lay on the ground, Inferno confused and Pocky rubbing the soot off her face and screaming because of a bad burn on her shoulder.

"Rose use poison sting on Joker!" I had it figured that if I could get Joker stung, I could get him out early. My Roselia aimed a black rose at the Trickster and began shooting poison barbs at him.

"Joker use card attack!" He jumped into the air and began running around the wall of the arena. He took a few cards out of his tailcoat and began throwing them at Rose like they were ninja stars or shuriken. Rose shot a poison barb towards him right before a card cut her arm. Sap started oozing out of the cut and she cringed with pain. The barb missed Joker, but it hit Harlequin who turned her eyes toward the Roselia.

"Harlequin use quick attack on that Roselia!" The Trickster ran madly towards Rose, brandishing now dangerous-looking playing cards. One stuck out menacingly from in between each finger. With each step though, I could tell she was losing her energy and so could Rose. She dodged most of the attacks, but Harlequin got one strike in and Rose hit the ground. The Roselia, angered, jumped up and thrust a black rose in the Trickster's face. Whatever attack she used, if she used one, it affected Harlequin tremendously, because she fell to the ground unconscious.

"The Trickster Harlequin has been knocked unconscious! T is out of the match!" Little Wolf announced.

T screamed with shock and slowly backed away from the arena floor.

"You two better not screw this up," she growled to Loli and A.

At this point Pocky had dressed her wound and Inferno had gotten his bearings.

"Pocky use brick break!" squealed Loli.

"Inferno use peck!" shouted Blaze.

Pocky ran at the little Torchic and began throwing her fists out towards him. The little Torchic however, hopped up on the Medicham's fist, ran up her arm, and pecked her right above the eye. She squealed and waved her arms wildly. Inferno flew off and hit the ground. He flapped his arms, chirped with loathing, and refused to get back up.

"The Torchic Inferno is down! Blaze is out of the match!"

"Welp, I tried," confirmed Blaze, stepping back and leaning against the wall.

The only two Pokémon left in the arena were mine. Pocky was tired and hurt, I could see that. I could easily get her out of the way. Joker on the other hand; he was just getting started.

"Joker use quick attack!"

"Neko guard Rose! Rose use paralysis powder!"

I knew Rose and her more powerful poison was a threat to the Trickster. That meant I had to protect her, even if it meant getting Neko knocked out of the battle. The quick attack move was a flash. Neko was suddenly knocked up into the air. Joker came back into focus. Rose thrust a rose forward and sprayed yellow powder all over him. He screeched, static cracking around him. Neko landed on her feet and watched intensely as the Trickster fell to the ground with a thud. Everyone waited for a while to see if he'd get back up. He didn't.

"Joker the Trickster is unable to battle," announced Little Wolf, "Therefore, Blaze, Jaime, your team is victorious."

The entire arena was silent. No one knew whether to clap or boo. Loli then stepped forward clapping. A followed her lead.

"I think we should all give these lovely trainers a round of applause!" she said boisterously. The people in the stands broke into claps and cheers. T rolled her eyes, but began clapping also. I was quite embarrassed and just wanted to leave, but Loli continued.

"What shall be there prize?"

I shrugged. What could I possibly want international virtual pop idols that I didn't already have? Blaze came running up and whispered in Loli's ear.

"VIP tickets to our next show and a backstage pass. Sure that's doable."

I was beaming. That was definitely a good prize to me. A walked up and whispered something in Loli's other ear.

"Well everyone! Our time hear is up, but the night is still young! Enjoy the rave everybody!" LoliTA turned to walk out the door.

Before the exited, T turned around. "Good job you guys. You deserve those passes. We'll have them sent to you, that's a Lolita promise."

I looked at Blaze. The sleepiness must've been apparent on my face because she said, "You can go back to the hotel. I'm stayin'." I shrugged and exited the arena.

Before going back to the hotel I needed to go the bathroom. I took the corridor indicated and headed there. It was flooded with dark blue, ambient light. The light alone made me feel uncomfortable. That wasn't the only thing though. I kept getting the feeling like I was being followed. Every time I turned around though, no one was there so I kept walking. I was pretty much at the bathroom when I heard a very distinct clank. I looked up. The vent in front of me opened up. A single icicle dropped down from it. I looked at it baffled.

_An __icicle __in __a__ vent __at __a __casino?_

Just then there was a crack and two glowing eyes appeared. _Pokémon!_ A mouth cracked open and cold frosty breath came flowing out of it. I dove to the ground and looked behind me. Instead of hitting me, the cold air hit the person behind me and froze her to the spot. I looked up. The icicle-like Pokémon had receded back into the vent. I looked back. The female frozen behind me was the girl with the afro in the blue jumpsuit! My mind was whizzing. I was so confused! Why would some random chick have her Pokémon attack me? I stood up and in front of me was a man.

"Who the hell are you?" I breathed.

"Why Jaime you don't remember me? I remember you."

"Why does everyone know me?"

The man in front of me wore a white hoodie, one arm off the shoulder and hanging. He had under the hoodie a sky blue T-shirt with a dark blue letter F. He also wore dark blue slacks. His head was topped with a white fedora. He swung around in his hand he swung around a sky blue umbrella with a white handle.

I stared at him long and hard, my head tilted. "Nope. I don't remember you."

He smirked. "It doesn't matter. I didn't come here for you anyway. I came here for Blaze. You just happened to be in the _way_. But then I thought 'Oh! She would make wonderful bait'."

He walked towards me. I backed up against the wall. "I doubt I'd be very good bait. Blaze doesn't care very much about me."

He shrugged. "That's too bad. I thought I could at least use you before I _kill_ you." He pulled out a gun.

"Holy shit! Since when where there guns in Pokémon?" I couldn't remember at the time Blaze's room at Ariel and her base where lined with them.

"Officer Jenny had a gun," he replied, holding it to my head. "Well, I'm glad I could prove you stupid one last time. Goodbye Jaime."

Just then something flashed and the man grunted. There was a crowbar at his throat. I exhaled but was still scared. A crowbar to the throat?

"Drop the gun."

"Blaze!"

"Blaze."

"You heard me Jared I said drop the gun!"

"Jared!"

"Give the gun to Jaime or I swear to god I will slit your throat with this crowbar and you know I can!"

"Slit a throat with a crowbar? Is that physically possible?"

"Shut up Jaime and take the god dam gun!"

Jared thrust the gun into my hand. I took it and Blaze let Jared go. He swung around and stared long and hard at Blaze.

"Blaze Bryant."

"Jared Black."

"Long time no see."

"Not long enough. You think I wouldn't catch on to your scheme? Remember I was always the intelligent one in the relationship. I noticed all your cronies sniffing around here. You think they'd wear something besides sky blue and white to a _rave_."

My eyes widened as I came to a realization. "You're the leader of Team Frost aren't you Jared?"

"You're an idiot Jaime," Blaze growled. I could tell she was pissed.

Blaze Bryant and Jared Black had dated in high school. They broke up six months later. They had remained estranged friends after the fact, but by the time they graduated their relationship had completely soured.

"Why are you having one of your teammates impersonate me?"

"All in good time," Jared said, "Then again, it won't be, because I'm going to get rid of you now. As great as it would be to have you caught and banned, your frequent escapes from the police just make my job harder."

"She has a gun and I have a crowbar. You really think you're going to get the best of me with an umbrella?"

Jared laughed. "You're not so smart after all. You said my cronies were swarming the place. Where do you think they are now?"

"Sugar Plum use wrap!"

A vine shot out from the darkness and grabbed Blaze's arm, pulling it at an awkward angle. She dropped the crowbar, cried out in pain, and fell to her knees.


	2. The Rescue

Jared walked past us both tapping his umbrella on his shoulder. I raised the gun and aimed for his head.

He turned toward me. "I don't think so."

The icicle popped out of the vent again and shot an ice shard into my hard. I screamed, dropped the gun, and cradled my wounded hand in my other hand. Another vine reached out from the shadows and grabbed it.

"Well Jaime it looks like you're defenseless. Don't even think about coming at me with those weak little fists," he scoffed. He walked over to Blaze and knelt in front of her. "Well babe, I guess this is goodbye."

"I'll respawn," she growled.

Jared laughed. "We'll see."

He patted her on the head. She spit in his face.

"Bitch!" He stood up and walked briskly into the shadows. "Handle them," he said, "Don't make too much of a mess. You're the ones who'll have to clean it up."

Two people stepped forward, both in sky blue jumpsuits with F's on them and dark blue masks. An Oddish, apparently Sugar Plum, also came out from the shadows. She was holding Blaze's arm with one vine and the gun with another. Jigglypuff stepped out too. The icicle Pokémon slid back into the vent.

"Any last words?" asked one gruff male voice.

"We'll record them for you," teased a girl, taking out her Pokétasker.

"Yeah," breathed Blaze, "Are you guys part of Team Frost?"

They looked at each other and shrugged.

"They're going to die anyway," said the girl.

The male turned to us. "Yes we are."

"Thanks," sighed Blaze. She lowered her head, looking defeated. Sugar Plum tightened the grip on her arm, just in case she decided to try something.

I stood there, my mind running. But what could I do? I hadn't made myself any stronger in game. I had no weapons. The Oddish had Blaze and a gun. Blaze and a gun! That was even more confusing. Joshua had said that Pokémon were not programmed to hurt anyone.

"Let's get this over with. Jigglypuff use sing."

The Jigglypuff smiled. It wasn't a calming smile, like I had expected a Jigglypuff to have. It was full of contempt. I shuddered. The Team Frost members put sound-blocking headphones on.

"Ji~ggl~ly~pu~ffy~puff…" The song began. It was slow and peaceful. I looked at the Team Frost members. They were smiling, waiting for us to fall asleep. I could feel my eyelids drooping. I looked at Blaze. Hers were too. I stared at Sugar Plum. It was nodding off. Something they didn't account for. I waited, hoping I wouldn't be asleep before the Pokémon was. Then it would be too late.

"Ji~" Calmer… "Gggly~" Sleepier… "Puffy~" It was over. "Puff."

POP!

Just as I had expected, Sugar Plum nodded off causing it to accidently pull the trigger. It jerked Blaze's arm, then let go. She screamed and doubled over in pain. The bullet had shot up into the sealing. It startled everyone, including the Jigglypuff whom had stopped singing. With an uncompleted song, it didn't work.

"Herp, Derp, Cheesy, get out here!" I threw all three Pokéballs out.

"Herp!"

"Derp!"

"Ratatat!"

"Cheesy close that icicle thing in that vent!"

He hopped off my shoulders and slid into the vent. He used the tail to close it behind him. I could hear a commotion from inside.

"Herp, Derp, secure those two Pokémon!"

The two stepping-stone Pokémon stood in front of the Jigglypuff and Oddish, who just sat there, seemingly stunned. Blaze was standing up, holding her arm.

"I think it's dislocated," she growled. The female pulled off her headphones and tried to grab her. Blaze slapped her. The male came and stood in front of me.

"You're going to pay for that!"

I held up my fist. "I'm not afraid to find you." He pushed me to the ground. He reached down for me. I sat there trembling. Just then, I heard something knock him from behind. The Team Frost guy fell to the ground.

"Domonick!" I said happily. He smiled at me, holding up a large fist. Little Wolf was running up behind him.

"Domonick look out!" she shouted.

I grabbed the crowbar and hit him in the back of the head. He fell again, and this time, he didn't get back up.

"Is he ok?" I asked, staring at him.

"Who cares?" asked Little Wolf, "We've got to get out of here!" She grabbed the Team Frost member who was tussling with Blaze and threw her to the ground.

"Two against one!" she squealed, "That's not fair!"

"Neither is kicking someone while they're down," growled Blaze, "But I'm gonna do that too. You did try to kill us after all." She gave the girl one hard kick before turning toward us.

"Let's get out of here, before I lose my composure." She was trembling and still holding her arm. I could tell it really hurt. We turned and started heading toward the emergency exit. We passed the girl I had seen earlier, trapped in a slowly melting block of ice. She had been totally ignored during the whole ordeal, but her eyes were wide open. I was wondering if she was conscious and had seen what was going. It shook my head. Frozen in a block of ice and conscious? Not possible.

"You two can come to my place and hide out there," Domonick said.

"I'll go and check out for you," Little Wolf offered, "What room are you two in?"

"301," I said.

"Inferno's in there," Blaze wheezed.

"And so is my Neko."

"I'll get them." Little Wolf walked away.

"Let me take care of that arm," Domonick offered, "It looks dislocated."

"Will it hurt?" Blaze looked at both him and me.

"Quite a bit," I said, "But it'll feel better than it does now."

Domonick stood behind her, grabbed her arm, and moved it around a bit, then jerked it. There was a crack, then a snap.

"Ow." Blaze moved her shoulder and shrugged it. "I'm good now, thanks." She looked at me. "You're a wimp."

I ignored her. "So Domonick, you don't guard Donna at night?"

"No, she's got someone else for that."

There was a long pause, then once again I broke the silence.

"Thanks for helping us back there."

"It was no problem. I heard a gun, it's my job."

"But you really saved us," "You guys seem pretty protective of the players. I mean, if we die we do respawn afterwards right?"

For a moment no one answered, then Domonick finally said. "You still feel pain."

"Either way, that was pretty scary." I chuckled. Blaze glared at me.

We walked up to his house, a modest, two-story house. He unlocked the door and we walked inside. It was nicely decorated, mostly dark colors, with artwork on the walls. Most of it seemed like scenes straight from the over and underworlds, if that was possible. He motioned to his couch.

"I'll make us some food."

Neither of us were very hungry, but we just nodded and sat down.

"It's a nice house," I murmured.

"Yeah I guess so," responded Blaze, "If you're a house kind of person."

"Says the girl who sleeps in a cave."

"Exactly."

By the time Domonick came in the living room with the food, I had nodded off. He woke me with a gentle tap. I looked at the food. It was steaming and was very warm. It was actually breakfast food: eggs, pancakes with butter and syrup, bacon, and orange juice.

"What time is it?"

"2am," he answered.

"Oh… Thanks!" I smiled, grabbed my fork, and started digging in. Blaze nodded her thanks and started eating silently. Domonick sat on the couch opposite us and watched us eat.

"You have a nice house," I said when I was finished. I grabbed the cup of orange juice and gulped it down.

"Thanks. You should see my summer home in Prog." He laughed at his own joke. Blaze smiled. I didn't get the joke then.

"Well," he said standing up, "The guest room is in there. I hope you don't mind sharing. I can get a sleeping bag for one of you." He walked out the living room.

"You can sleep in the bed," I said, "You were hurt the most."

"Glad we agree on that," Blaze said, walking towards the room. I followed her.

It was a twin-sized bed. If you rolled around too much at night, you'd fall out. Domonick brought in a black sleeping bag for me. I thanked him.

"Well," he said, "Good night. I'll be upstairs if you need me. Hopefully, you won't." He walked out the room whistling and closed the door. I looked at Blaze. She was already in bed snoring. I sighed and laid the sleeping bag out on the floor. I climbed in it and stared at the ceiling, eventually, I fell asleep.


	3. Getting Out of Atilol

There it was again. That feeling like something was dripping on me. I woke up and rubbed my nose. It was wet!

"Herp!"

"Derp!"

_Shoot!__ I__ left__ them __and __Cheesy __last __night!_

I shot up. "I'm so sorry!"

"Derp?"

"Herp!" They seemed totally clueless and unfazed.

I looked at the carpet. It was soaking wet.

"Dominick's going to freak!" I bolted out of the sleeping back, almost slipping on it, and ran out of the room. I followed the trail of water down the hallway, slipping once, and ended up in the bathroom. Dominick was stirring water in the sink, to the delight of my Ratatat who was whirling along with it. Inferno was flapping around in the bathtub. Dominick's Snorlax was leaning against the wall, barely fitting in the tub. Herp and Derp came sliding in their stream of water and hopped into the tub beside him. Neko was hiding under a towel while Blaze teased her with water. She only poked her head out every once and a while to give her an indignant hiss.

"Stop that!" I slid in and grabbed the bundle.

"Morning Jaime. Nice of you to get up."

"Oh like you can talk!" I looked over, "Good morning Dominick."

"Mornin'."

I opened up the towel. Neko mewed at me.

"Little Wolf dropped her off last night," Dominick said.

"How'd the others find me?" Cheesy hopped out of the sink and started talking to Neko. The Skitty didn't seem interested in anything that had to do with water.

"It's a honing mechanism Pokémon have," Blaze answered nonchalantly, "A Pokémon and always find their ball. Lucky for you, they were on you."

"Who made you the Pokémon expert?" I grumbled.

"Who made you a beta tester?" she asked, giving me a shove as she walked past, "I thought you had to a score an eighty or better on the test."

_There__was__a__test?_ "I did score an eighty!"

I might as well have been talking to the air. Actually I was. Blaze was heading down the stairs. I looked back at Dominick. He cleared his throat.

"Why don't I make brunch?" He offered. I sighed and nodded. We both headed downstairs.

We ate brunch at the dining room table. It was pretty quiet. We had nothing to say to each other. Food for the Pokémon was set out on the floor in the kitchen. They were chattering happily. Finally, I broke the human silence.

"Do you guys mind hanging out here for a couple days?" I reiterated. "What I mean is, I have something I have to do… in the real world. I just wanted to know if Blaze could hang out here… if you don't mind?"

Domonick and Blaze looked at each other.

"Why?" she asked.

"That's none of your business."

"Is everything ok Jaime?"

"No, that's why I need to log off."

They looked at each other again, he shrugged.

"Sure it's fine; she can stay as long as she wants." He smiled.

"I'm here for you bitch. You're going to leave me hangin'?"

"It's for a couple of days. I have a life too. Maybe you should log off too, before your brain turns to mush. Oh wait, it already is."

"Look here! I can ditch your ass!"

"SHUT UP!" Domonick boomed. "You two are friends!"

"Why do people keep insisting that we're friends?" Blaze growled accusingly, "She hangs around me and _my_friends."

"They're my friends too!"

"NOT AGAIN! I don't care whether you two consider yourselves friends, don't consider yourselves friend. I really don't give a damn. The point is, if you two are in this for the long haul, you better make the best of it. No more fighting, not in my house. I'll kick _both_ your asses out, and I know _you__'__re_ broke Blaze."

"How do you know _I__'__m_broke?"

"You asked Jaime to pay for a ticket, she paid for your clothes, and oh yeah… you're wanted for theft."

Blaze sighed. I thanked Dominick as calmly as I could, got up, and went into the kitchen.

"Ok guys, say your goodbyes, you're returning to your Pokéballs."

"Heeeerp!"

"Derp!"

"Skit-ty!"

"Rata!"

"Stop your whining, I have to log off. You'd disappear anyway."

They didn't seem to understand the concept of logging off but the idea of disappearing seemed to alarm them. I returned them to their balls, took out my Pokétasker, and logged off. I opened my eyes looking at a glazed box. The lid slid open and I got out. Jeffrey looked over from his computer. He seemed surprise. He looked better though, like he had gotten some sleep… and taken a shower. Apparently there was a look of alarm on his face, because he asked me:

"What's the matter?"

I returned his question with a stare.

"Wait until everyone's shift is over. They're in game. I'll call Dr. Honda and have him come by."

"Joshua, remember when you said that Pokémon are not programmed to kill or even fatally injure?"

Of course, he did.

"Somebody's been messing with their programming."

"That's not possible," Jeffrey said, "Warning messages would've shown up all over mine and the other programmer's screens."

We were sitting at a round table in the now furnished loft. The walls were red with white carpet. The furniture was a mixture of greens, yellows, and browns. There were Pokémon motifs all over the place. The room was abuzz with people, apparently coders and programmers, monitoring the game. I heard Julia's name a couple of times. I think they were trying to do my job, but I didn't say anything. There were more urgent matters to attend to.

"I think there are programmers out there, no hackers, good ones. They are infiltrating this game and you guys don't even know it!"

"And you do?" scoffed Carl. I gave him a long, hard look.

"Have you guys heard of Team Frost?"

"Frost!" Gloria squealed, "I thought they were a myth!"

"They are!" Jeffrey insisted. Dr. Honda looked at him.

"So you've heard of them?" I was happy.

"Well some people have talked about these shady people in sky blue jumpsuits who steal Pokémon. Is that true? Are there people stealing Pokémon?"

The hubbub in the room had been reduced to a whisper. The other employees of Virtuous Games wanted to hear the conversation as well.

"Well," said Dr. Honda. He sighed. "Where to begin?"

"There have been some," Jeffrey cleared his throat, "Members who joined the game then fell off the grid… literally."

"Their coding shows that their bodies have fallen under the game," Dr. Honda checked. "But we've checked. There's nothing there."

"Some Pokémon have fallen off the grid too. The wild populations aren't abnormal, but some captured Pokémon have been taken," one coder said.

"And they haven't returned to their balls," said another, "Their honing systems are fine though."

"We have someone looking into it," Dr. Honda assured.

"You have someone looking into it?" I wasn't convinced.

Neither was Gloria. She looked as if she wanted to quit right then. She took out her wallet, looked in it, sighed and seemed to think better of it. Joshua and Carl seemed as if they had trouble comprehending all that was going on. I rolled my eyes and stood up.

"I'm going home."

"Good night," everyone at the table said.

I walked out the building and got on my motorcycle. I needed to go home, take a real shower, change clothes. I needed to sleep in a real bed, alone, without having some creature waking me up in the morning. As nice as Neko is, she is needier than a real pet. I had thought so many times that it would be splendid to live in a virtual world, escaping from the problems of a real one. The virtual world of Katakana was starting to give me more trouble than I thought was worth, and I wondered when I found Julia if I'd quit. The money was nice. Hell, it was wonderful, but I was thinking that all the exposure to the VR was starting to take a toll on my body. I had a massive headache.

I went up and took a long, herbal bath. I slept the night and half the day away. When I got up, I refused to look at a screen. I ate cereal, dry; the milk had gone bad. I got dressed. I went shopping, I went sightseeing. I rode a bullet train. I was laughing and smiling so hard. The natives laughed with me, or maybe at me. I definitely wasn't used to the speed. I threw up afterwards, and laughed some more. I got something to eat, something to drink. I did some more shopping, I returned home. The next day, I did more sightseeing, more eating. I was skinnier than usual. I had to gain some weight I had lost. I hung out with Joshua. He seemed relieved to see me outside the game. I returned home, and didn't let him in. We joked with each other from opposite sides of the door, then said our goodbyes. I went to bed, sighing. It had been a great day. If it wasn't for my job, I might not be here. But it was such a strenuous job… No I was making it this way. All for a girl, I hadn't seen in years.

_She __has __a __life __to __live__ too__…_ I kept repeating over and over as I drifted off to sleep.

"I'm baaaack!" _Like__ they __care._ "Guys?"

A door upstairs opened. Blaze walked out of Dominick's bedroom scratching her head and yawning. She was wearing an oversized black t-shirt with skulls and guns, but it seemed to fit her personality.

"Oh, hey Jaime." Dominick walked out wearing black pants, no shirt. I looked away to keep from blushing. I could feel Blaze's eyes burning into my skin, mocking me.

"You have something to ask Jaime?"

"I don't want to know," I said, "I'm going to Donna's store. I want to get some clothes before we move on. If you want something, meet me there before I leave." I headed towards the door. Dominick walked back into his room.

"Wait," I didn't turn around, "Have you guys been logged on since I left?"

"No," Blaze said, "Dominick was in town. We've been hanging out in the _real_ world you're so crazy about." She laughed derisively. "He's even more fun now than he was when we were kids!"

I made some noise of disgust and left. I was happy for them, but I didn't want to know what was going on between them.

_No__ one __knows__ about __my __love__ interests__…_ I rethought that. That was a bold faced lie. _Everyone __does. __No__ one__ ever__ tells __me __about _theirs_!_

"You're back!"

"Yes'm."

"You came here to buy or to talk?"

"Buy."

"Oh," Donna cocked her head, "You look like you wanted to talk."

I was looking in the casual Lolita section.

"You don't sell normal clothes here do you?"

"It's Atilol. These _are__ normal_ clothes."

I picked out a few outfits and headed to the counter.

"Aren't they cute?"

"The outfits? Yes, they are." I took out my Pokétasker to pay.

"Not those silly. Even though, yes, they are just _adorable_ if I do say so myself. No I'm talking about Dominick and Blaze."

"I know nothing about that."

"I do. I know Blaze has been staying at his ingame house. I know you haven't been logged on for the past couple of days. I know that they've hung out in the real world. I know he hasn't shown up for work. I haven't been here either." Donna scanned my 'tasker and put the clothes I bought into a bag.

I reached for the bag. She wouldn't give it to me. "And how do you know these things?"

Donna smiled. "I know everything, Deary." She tapped her forehead.

I finally got the bag and turned to leave. "Do you feel lonely Jaime?"

"Sometimes, but I've got no time for love. I have my own life to worry about, let alone someone elses."

"People who have no one say things like that."

I didn't respond, I just headed out the door. As I did, Little Wolf came rushing in, almost knocking me over.

"Oh I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Oh hey, Jaime, it's you!"

"Really is it?" I asked, catching my balance, "You sure it isn't some other person you've deformed into looking like me?"

Little Wolf laughed loudly. "You know, I like you. You're full of jokes."

"Sarcasm isn't meant to be funny."

"You guys hadn't picked up your artwork. I went to Dominick's to drop it off. Blaze took the sculpture; she said you'd probably want the picture. She told me you'd be here."

"Here I am."

"Here you go!" She held up a black locket with a yellow rose painted on it.

I stared at her. "I remember you sketching on something much bigger."

"Open it," she said cheekily.

I took the locket and opened it up. Before my eyes, it unfolded into a full size canvas, neatly sitting on a large easel.

"It's called the Traveler's Package. I just got an advance on it yesterday. You're sale is going to help me pay it off." She seemed proud of herself. "It lets trainers take their artwork anywhere! I used the best paints on yours, and my Infernape used his best clays. Of course she'll just have to carry the sculpture in her bag… But it won't crack, and it's as hard as a rock! Really! You could use it as a weapon!"

The artist seemed to be running out of breath. I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her from carrying on.

"Is it alright if I pay now?" I asked smiling.

"Oh… Yeah, sure!" She took out a scanner and scanned my Pokétasker. "You don't even want to know the price?"

"Not really." I took my 'tasker and checked the Bank Balance app. My account was unchanged. "It doesn't really matter."

"Look who's rolling in the dough," Donna called from behind her desk. "Then again," she giggled, "I am too!"

I smirked. Little Wolf scratched her head.

"Look, Blaze and I are leaving Atilol today. We need to get out of here and move on."

"You adventurers, always ready to get on the road. I envy your youth," said Little Wolf.

"You're a like…" I looked at her, "A year older than me." She giggled.

"You guys come visit again!" Donna called.

I waved to them both and walked back to Dominick's house. Blaze was pretty much all packed up. We each gave him hugs and said our goodbyes, then headed down the street that took us out of the city.


	4. The Road to Aval

Aval was next on our list of towns to visit. Our walk there was quiet for the most part. I wasn't talking to Blaze, and she wasn't talking to me. Neko was asleep around my neck. Inferno was asleep in Blaze's arms. Eventually, I couldn't take the silence anymore. It was a beautiful day, and I felt our tension would ruin it.

"How's your shoulder?" I asked. It came out as a squeaky whisper.

Blaze moved it around a bit. "Sore, but better."

We kept walking. The silence resumed. After a while, Blaze cleared her throat.

"How's your hand?"

I held it up in front of me and looked at it. I saw it was bandaged! A little blood had turned it red.

"Wha! When? How…"

"I poured a little whiskey down your throat our first night at Dominick's. Dulled the pain and kept you sleeping. Allowed me to patch you up." She laughed, "I swear, you'd die without me."

I pulled the bandage off. A crusty scab had formed over the wound. I poked it, pain shot through my arm, and I winced.

"Still hurts huh?"

I nodded slowly.

"Does it hurt in the real world too?"

I shrugged. I really hadn't noticed; I'd been so worried and exhausted after the meeting with Team Frost, I couldn't really feel anything. I did know that I didn't have a scab as ugly as that one.

"It shouldn't," Blaze said, not looking at me.

"If it does I'll submit a glitch ticket," I said quietly. She returned my statement with a grunt.

As we kept walking the ground began to change. My shoes were no longer sliding in soft soil. The ground here was harder. Our path had faded away. The temperature was changing too. It was beginning to feel hot. After walking a bit more, we were confronted by a huge wall of dirt and rock. I looked at Blaze.

"Are we lost?"

"No."

"Haven't you been here before?"

"Yes. I said we're not lost."

"Take out your Pokétasker and look."

"Dammit we are not lost!" She ran hand along the wall. "The opening should be right here." She leaned on a particularly large rock. It fell inward, causing a bunch of dirt and rock to fall with it. A cave opening neatly framed with similar looking gray rocks was revealed.

"See!" cried Blaze, slamming a fist into the palm of her other hand, "I told you I know where it is!"

"GOLEM!"

"Aw shit."

A very annoyed looking golem rose up from the pile of rocks on the ground. He was very big and very tough looking.

"I thought you couldn't find them in the wild," Blaze managed to get out.

"Different game," I said. I looked at her.

"What?"

"Aren't you going to fight it?"

"Why me!"

"You pissed it off!"

In any other game, fighting a golem would've been no problem for me. With it actually standing in front of me, I felt mighty scared. It growled and started walking forward.

"Use your Shedinja! It's Wonder Guard won't let it take damage from this guy!"

"Go Halo!"

I was shocked that Blaze listened to me with no objections.

"Shedinja!"

"Halo use harden, then use scratch on that golem!"

"Scratch!" I screeched, "That won't do anything!"

She didn't listen, and just as I expected the scratch didn't affect the golem. He seemed to laugh then rushed forward and tackled Halo to the ground. The shedinja though, seemed unaffected by what looked to us like a forceful attack.

"Halo, now's your chance, use leech life!"

The shedinja bumped heads with the golem, which seemed to hurt it a bit. It turned over, brandishing the crack on its back. When the golem looked down at it, he froze in place. He just stared into the crack. His eyes clouded over and he started convulsing. We stood watching, amazed.

"So the rumors must be true," I whispered, "Staring into the crack on shedinja's back really does steal one's spirit."

"Or their life force."

"I think you should catch him before Halo kills him."

"Pokémon aren't designed to kill," she murmured, still watching in awe.

I stared at Blaze in disbelief. As adamant as she was that things were wrong with the game, I found it hard to believe that she believed Pokémon were totally innocent.

"Just catch it," I said gently. Blaze took a Pokéball out of her backpack and threw it at the golem. When it touched him, he was sucked inside and easily caught. Then she took out Halo's Pokéball. "Halo return." It returned.

We just stood there for a moment looking at the entrance to the cave. Blaze walked over and picked up the Pokéball that housed her new golem. I walked up to her and put her hand on her shoulder.

"What will you call him?"

"I dunno," she answered, "Probably just Golem."

"That was scary to watch huh?"

"You're a wimp Jaime," Blaze answered, "That was nothing."

She took a flashlight out of her backpack, put it back on, and headed into the cave. I had a feeling that though she wouldn't admit it, we were both thinking the same thing. A lot of strange and scary events had been happening, and we never thought that a Pokémon game could be so violent…

"Why are we stopping, you said Aval isn't too far."

Blaze knelt by a stream and pulled Inferno out of her cloak. "He's thirsty."

"Thirsty! He hasn't done anything!"

Neko hopped down from my shoulders and bent to drink too.

"Neither have you Neko."

She mewed an indignant response.

Blaze sat down on the ground and stretched her legs, getting comfortable. A breeze blew through the cave and whipped her hair. She turned off the flash light and a beacon of light shined through the top.

"You're so lazy," I whined, but frankly I was tired too and glad to stop. My stomach growled.

"Here," Blaze took two sushi packages out of her cloak and handed one to me. I took off the cellophane and sniffed it.

"Is it still good?"

"I had it sitting on ice so it should be," she answered, taking the cellophane of hers, grabbing a pair of chopsticks, and beginning to eat.

"Ice in your cloak?"

"Yup," she ate another roll.

I hesitantly grabbed my own chopsticks and began eating. It was cold, but it was good, and refreshing in a way. Neko walked up to my backpack and pulled out a can of food. She trotted over to me holding it in her mouth. I put my food down, opened it, and laid it on the ground for her. She munched on it, tail winding in the air. Blaze took out some seed for Inferno and scattered on the ground. He pecked at it, peeping happily.

When we were done eating we all lay on the cool ground, surrounded by darkness, looking up at the sky through the crack in the cave ceiling. It was odd to get so comfortable in such a dank place. We could hear the chattering of curious Pokémon around us, but none came near.

"I'm happy for you," I said finally.

"What are you talking about?"

"You and Domonick, I'm happy for you, congratulations."

"Why would you be happy for us?"

"I like to see my friends happy."

Blaze grunted. "I'm not your friend."

"I know, I love you too."

She groaned and turned over. "I wish you'd leave me alone."

"You offered to help me out."

"I'm only taking you as far as Egarim and then we're done."

"No we're not," I chuckled.

Blaze sat up. "Yes we are! I don't want to spend my time with you!"

Her yelling awakened Neko and Inferno who had been napping. They looked at us sleepily.

"Have you forgotten I have to repay you? I'm going with you to Niatnoum to face Team Frost."

"You'd only get in my way. I don't need you to repay me. Staying out of my hair is good enough." As if to prove her point, she flicked her hand through it.

"Fine then," I said, "If I'm not going to Niatnoum to repay you, then I'm going to help Kayla."

"Like I said, I doubt you'd be of much help, to me or Kayla."

"Alright, I'm going sightseeing."

Blaze sighed and hugged her knees to her chest. "You're a stubborn bitch aren't you? Always trying to force yourself on people."

I smiled. "You know me better than don't you? I don't pick my friends, the world and the forces within it do."

"There you go with that aura crap."

"I can tell who I'm meant to be around just by looking at them. You for one, are one of those special ones who I'm meant to be friends with forever."

"Lucky me…" Blaze growled, "I guess I'll never get away from you huh? Wherever I go somehow you'll find me, or I'll find you."

"If the forces of the world allow it yes. I'll find you, and you will lead me to my other old friends." I laughed. "Social networking helps too."

We were silent again. I was left smiling in the dark and Blaze sat looking dejected. She finally stood up and grabbed her backpack.

"We should go."

I stood up and grabbed mine.

"Come on Inferno," Blaze said scooping him up, "Back into my cloak you go."

I bent down so Neko could hop on my shoulders. We headed through the cave, and when we came out we were greeted with blinding light, and the sight of an immense volcano in the near distance: Tnaig in Aval…


End file.
